SHILLONG, July 5: Amidst a clamour over the proposed move by the central government to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and fears over its perceived repercussions on the Sixth Schedule, the Meghalaya BJP Meghalaya has claimed that the tribal areas will not be affected by UCC.
“UCC is meant for the general areas; tribal areas will not be affected. General means those areas which are governed by the general laws so UCC will not affect the tribal areas which are protected under special provisions of the Constitution,” BJP vice president and Tura MDC, Bernard N. Marak said on Wednesday.
He claimed that the BJP wants to uplift the Northeast regions as it has been long neglected and the party’s intention is not to intrude into the tribal areas or to dilute the beautiful culture, tradition and practices of the tribals.
“The BJP wants to restore what has been lost and taken away from the tribals in the past by the political parties which ruled the state,” he said.
“Sixth Schedule protection has been promised to the people through the Constitution of India but was practically not delivered to the tribal people. Instead, the autonomy of the tribal people was diluted by the bureaucracy which serves the general state. State is not tribal. It is general,” he said.
