In the months of June-July, the tribals of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh protested against the Uniform Civil Code. Somewhere a padyatra was taken out and somewhere organizations like Sarv Adivasi Samaj protested and expressed their objection. About 700 types of tribal society in India have their own customs related to marriage, divorce, succession and family functions. For them, going against their customs means going against their society. Several regional parties, communities and religious groups in the Northeast have come out in opposition to the Uniform Civil Code. The residents of RSS's Banbasi Kalyan Ashram have advised him to take a closer look at tribal culture before the government considers UCC and also invited him to visit tribal areas.
Tribal Laws Related to Property Rights
According to tribal traditions in Mizoram, the youngest son inherits the father's property. No daughter has any share in her father's property. In the Geelong and Wancho communities of Arunachal Pradesh, only sons inherit their father's property. The youngest son of the Nagas inherits the bulk of his father's property, including his father's house. Property like land is divided equally among the sons. But the girls get nothing. Even if there is no son, the daughters do not get anything. In such cases the ancestral property is handed over to a close male relative like the father's brother or his son. Similarly, the Santhals and Orams of Jharkhand, the Jamatias and Halams of Tripura, and the Dungaria Kandhas and Pauri-Bhuiyans of Odisha have a similar distribution of wealth. Among the tribals a father may give a small piece of land to his daughter as a gift, but under no circumstances the girl can claim for any land property.
Tribal Laws Related to Divorce
According to traditional Mizo law, a man can divorce his wife by simply saying 'ka ma cha' (I divorce you) and refusing to give her a share of the family property. According to the National Family Health Survey (2019-2020), the prevalence of polygamy is highest among the tribals of the North-East and women are prohibited from owning and managing property. one of the main reason for having less women representatives in Nagaland, Arunachal, Mizoram, Meghalaya assembly is the social way there.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio led a delegation of his ministers to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah to protest against Article 371(A) of the Uniform Civil Code Constitution. Because the traditional laws and customs of the Nagas are very independent.
According to media reports received from sources in the Nagaland government, Amit Shah assured the delegation led by the chief minister that the proposed Uniform Civil Code would not affect tribals. BJP MP Sushil Modi, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the UCC Act, has suggested that the Uniform Civil Code should not be imposed on tribals. The BJP government has always worked for the development of tribals. The Ministry of Tribal Development was created in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government and BJP has made Draupadi Murmu, India's first woman tribal president. In the case of UCC also, there is full confidence that the BJP will protect the interests of the tribals.
