HT Bureau
DIPHU, April 8: Secretary of Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), Daniel Teron said the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was incorporated when the Constitution of India was framed by the constituent assembly and now the BJP wanted to implement what is already there in the Constitution.
Interacting with the media at the ASDC Central Committee office on Monday, Teron said, “Most people of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao are unaware of Article 44 of the Indian Constitution. It was in 1949 that it was incorporated in the Constitution by the constituent assembly. Now it would be wrong to say that Article 44, which provides for Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country, is the handiwork of the BJP. Actually, the BJP wanted to implement this portion of the Constitution all over India.”
Teron said that on March 12 the ASDC delegation met chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma and requested him to keep Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao outside the purview of the UCC as in 1935 these areas were partially excluded areas. The delegation has also told the CM to keep the districts outside the purview of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Teron said, “When we met the CM demanding to exclude Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao from the purview of UCC, he agreed. He told us that when the bill will be taken up in the Parliament he will have a discussion with Union home minister, Amit Shah to exclude the two hill districts from the purview of UCC.”
Teron also said that the ASDC delegation requested the CM to make a suitable constitutional political arrangement similar to article 371 A, providing safeguards to the culture and traditions of the Nagas and 371 G for safeguarding the culture and traditional beliefs of the Mizos, so that the culture and traditional practices of the scheduled tribes of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao can be protected.
