Uniform Civil Code: Naga communities agree it’s harmful

DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 5 : A public discourse on the proposed Uniform Civil Code – through which the present Union government seeks to replace personal laws of religious communities with a blanket set of civil laws for everybody – held here today at Dimapur arrived at the conclusion that it, if introduced, would infringe Article 371 (A) of the Indian Constitution. The discourse was organized by the Dimapur Bar Association, and attended by representatives from at least 14 Naga civil organizations. And since Article 371 (A), according to the senior lawyer A Zhimomi, was “our link to India” it was decided that the Naga people’s opposition to the proposed Uniform Civil Code should be registered with the Law Commission. This task of representing the Naga opposition of the Uniform Civil Code to the Law Commission, it was decided, would be undertaken by the Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC). The president of Nagaland Bar Association, Tali Ao, while explaining ‘Uniform Civil Code vis-à-vis Naga Social Customs and Practices’, stated that “a law unknown to us, unknown to our forefathers will be imposed on us.” According to the 2011 census data, 80.5% of the population of India are Hindus, followed by Muslims at 13.4% and Christians at 2.3%. The Uniform Civil Code, he reminded, would the personal and social life of every Indian citizen. “It will seriously impact our social customs,” he said. Former president of Nagaland Bar Association, NK Luikham also explained the ‘Constitutional Implication of Uniform Civil Code in the context of Nagaland Society’. The Nagaland Bar Association has already written to the prime minister, stating that the proposed Uniform Civil Code ‘will cause social disorder in Nagaland’. “If (a) uniform Civil Code is introduced covering the entire country, it shall cause so much hardship and social disorder to the Nagas as the personal and social life of the Nagas are quite distinct from the rest of people in the country,” it stated in the letter addressed to Modi on October 13 last. During the discussion, the silence of the state government on the issue was also questioned. As put by ENPO representative, Toshi Wungtung: “It is the sixty elected representatives led by the chief minister who should be defending us, and not the Bar Association.” A representative from the Muslim Council Dimapur also called the proposed Uniform Civil Code “a political conspiracy”. He said that the Muslim community of Dimapur were with the Naga organizations’ decision. Some of the civil societies who sent representations to the discourse include: Naga Council Dimapur, Nagaland Tribes Council, Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organization, Dimapur Naga Students’ Union, Naga Women Hoho Dimapur, Dimapur District Senior Citizens’ Forum, Dimapur District GBs Association, Dimapur Urban Council Chairman Federation, Chumukedima Area GBs Association, Central Nagaland Tribes’ Council, Muslim Council Dimapur and others.