Shillong: A two-day national seminar on “Customary Laws of North East India: Practice and Prevalence” was organised from October 21 to 22 by the University School of Law and Research, University of Science and Technology Meghalaya.
While addressing the seminar Prof (Dr) Poonam Saxena, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University, Jodhpur said, “The customary practices among different tribes of North East India reflect small practices of the whole of India. But there is difference between mainstream and periphery regions”.
She also spoke on customary laws and their contradiction with modern legislation and said that the force and power of customs is still very much continuing in many parts of India, for example, female foeticide, child marriage, and dowry.
While Prof (Dr) Amarjyoti Choudhury, Vice Chancellor of USTM, said that customary law as a human practice is very fundamental to existence. He said that the dream of every common person is that legal practice is to be made more humane, more effective, less expensive and less time consuming.
A total of 51 participants from different colleges and universities presented papers on various relevant themes related to customary laws in the two-day national seminar.