Arunachal Inheritance Bill faces opposition
- This Bill is a bid to structurally change the customary laws or traditional settings of the State’s tribal people.
- It is aggressive and undemocratic in nature and largely undermines the views and opinions of all the community-based organisations.
- But the government should first publish the draft it has been preparing on the issue of the offspring of non-APST men married to APST women.
Why opposition is there?
- Various student organisations stated that they would not allow the Bill to be passed in the Assembly.
- Unless tribal women marrying men belonging to the non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribes (non-APSTs) were stripped of ST status and benefits.
- The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) stated that the Bill was being brought without consultations with the stakeholders and, if passed, would pave the way for non-APSTs to settle down in the State permanently.
- The Bill seeks to amend the nomenclature of certain tribes from Arunachal Pradesh mentioned in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.
Demographics of Arunachal Pradesh:
- The Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh has a total population of roughly 1.4 million (as of 2011) in an area of 84,000 km2.
- It is amounting to a population density of about 17 pop./km2 (far below the Indian average of 370 pop./km2 but significantly higher than similarly mountainous Ladakh).
- Much of Arunachal Pradesh is forested.
- The ""indigenous groups"" account for about two thirds of the population, while immigrants, mostly of Bengali/Hindi belt origin, account for a third.
- Part-XVIII lists 16 tribes of Arunachal, in order:
- Abor,
- Aka,
- Apatani,
- Nyishi,
- Galong,
- Khampti,
- Khowa,
- Mishmi [Idu, Taroon],
- Momba,
- Any Naga tribes,
- Sherdukpen,
- Singpho,
- Hrusso,
- Tagin,
- Khamba and
- Adi.
Significance of the bill:
Indigenous nomenclature of tribes has been a long-standing demand in Arunachal Pradesh for two reasons:
- For the recognition of individual identity and to do away with the ambiguity as a result of errors in their names.
- For a long time, communities (whether civil society members or student leaders) have demanded that they must be known by their respective names.
- Most of the names for tribes in the Schedule were “colonial interpretations”.
- Now after the passage of the bill, communities will be known by the name they identify with and not something that is imposed on them.
- Self-identification is an essence for much-needed respect for small indigenous communities in the Northeast.
- There are 26 tribes in Arunachal but the number on the ground is much higher since there are so many tribes, sub-tribes that are not even listed.
- Diversity within a single tribe also in terms of language or culture.
- For example, there are three groups of Mishmis: Idu, Kaman and Taraon.
- But in the 1950 order, it is mentioned just as Mishmi.
- But in reality, Idu is different from Kaman and Taraon linguistically as well as in aspects of culture.
- Kaman and Taraon are culturally similar (in terms of dress, ornaments, etc) but linguistically different.
- Nomenclature like “Any Naga Tribe” was ambiguous and often created problems while applying for central jobs.