Demand for autonomous state gets louder in Karbi Anglong following Central team’s proposed visit to Nagaland

ASDC opposes Uniform Civil Code Bill introduced in Rajya Sabha

Our Correspondent

Diphu, Dec.15 (EMN): In continuation of the long talks behind Karbi Anglong’s demand for an autonomous state, a press conference was held at the office of Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) in Diphu on Thursday.

Denial Teron, Publicity secretary ASDC during the conference said, ‘if the central government can form a committee to study the demand for separate frontier Nagaland state and can visit eastern Nagaland, then the government should take immediate initiatives for Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao’s demand for autonomous state.’

Teron also said, ‘the central government has constituted a three-member committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs to study the demand for separate frontier Nagaland while on the eve of the creation of Telangana, the central government had taken a similar step while no study team was created to create the states of Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh.

In the context of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, no such study committee is necessary as all pros and cons were already done in 1969, the only thing that the government has to do is to implement article 244(A) of the Indian constitution to complete the process of re-organisation of Assam (Meghalaya) that was left incomplete in 1969 and also in 1971 during the re-organisation of the Northeast following the betrayal of Congress and APHLC, he said.

It is wrong on the part of the government to think that the process of re-organisation of Assam undertaken in1969 and also North-East re-organisation in 1971 as article 244(A) is yet to be implemented, said Teron.

Teron also said that the ASDC has also opposed the Uniform Civil Code Bill introduced in Rajya Sabha by the central government. He said, the bill if passed in both houses of parliament, will become an Act after the consent of the President, which will have wide-ranging negative ramifications on the social practices, customary law, and religious practices of the hill backward tribals.

‘But it would be wrong to point fingers for its implementation to the present dispensation as article 44 was inserted in the constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly during the framing of the constitution in the Congress period,’ he said.

Teron further appealed to all right-thinking and democratic organisations and individuals to oppose this move of the government as it is an attack on the secular character of the constitution.

Teron further said that the ASDC demands that an autonomous should be created immediately along with special constitutional provision on the line of (A) article 371 A which provides constitutional protection to the Nagas for their (i) religious or social practices of the Nagas, (ii) administration of civil and criminal justice involving decision according to Naga customary law, (iii) ownership and transfer of land and its resources. (B)371G Protection to the Mizos in respect of (i) religious or social practices of the Mizos, (ii) Mizo customary law and procedure (iii) administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Mizo customary law. (C) and paragraph 12A sub-paragraph(b) of the Sixth Schedule which provides special provision to the sixth schedule autonomous council of the state of Meghalaya in which an act of parliament is not applicable.

With respect to the Meghalaya High Court judgement on Dec. 9, 2022, on the boundary of Karbi Anglong (Assam) with Meghalaya, the ASDC would not be making any statement as the party is yet to see the exact copy of the order. However, he said, the ASDC is monitoring the entire process and will take the necessary step in case of problems.