Scrapping of Article 370 in J&K
GUWAHATI: BJP leader and party spokesperson for Garo Hills Digros D Shira has said that the onus was on the district councils to allay public apprehensions in the wake of the Centre scrapping Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and concerns about its ramification in the North East.
“The district councils have to come up with an information and public relations department through which people, especially in the rural areas, could be made aware of the special provisions bestowed on them. They need to inform the people about their customary laws and the powers and how the special provisions have been given to the region to help develop communities and places which are still backward compared to other parts of India,” Digros told The Shillong Times on Thursday.
Most of the provisions under Article 371 are meant to safeguard tribal communities and cultures in the states of the region besides enabling decentralised governance.
They also provide for dispute resolution through local customary laws while some laws also restrict land transfer to those defined as outsiders to the state concerned.
The BJP leader also said that the hue and cry raised against the Centre’s move that something similar could be done to the North East was baseless as the situation in Kashmir could not be compared to the region.
“Northeast has distinct cultures and traditions and therefore the Centre has bestowed special provisions to protect them. Over the years, none of these provisions have been misused by our leaders unlike in Kashmir where the existence of the special provision has become a threat to national security,” he said.
There have been concerns among several parties in the North East ever since Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir special status and autonomy within the Indian Union, was revoked on Monday.