Use special powers to exempt Jharkhand tribals from Uniform Civil Code: Adivasi bodies to Governor Radhakrishnan

A group of more than a dozen Adivasi organisations in Jharkhand, led by the Adivasi Samanvay Samiti, on July 5 sent a memorandum to the Governor of the State C. P. Radhakrishnan.

A group of more than a dozen Adivasi organisations in Jharkhand, led by the Adivasi Samanvay Samiti, on July 5 sent a memorandum to the Governor of the State, asking that he exercise his office’s special powers under the Fifth Schedule to exempt tribals of Jharkhand from any form of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) that might be brought in by the Union government. 

A few hundred Adivasi people from villages in and around Ranchi district gathered for a demonstration outside the Raj Bhawan in the State Capital on Wednesday afternoon before proceeding to submit their memorandum to Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan.

This comes a day after Mr. Radhakrishnan told The Hindu in an interview that as the Governor of a State like Jharkhand which is home to one of the largest tribal populations of the country, “I will take it up with the Centre when any specific draft comes through.”

Currently, the 22nd Law Commission is receiving public opinion on the UCC and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice has begun discussing it. And even though BJP MP and panel head Sushil Modi has batted to keep tribals out of the UCC, no draft for it exists yet. 

While raising slogans against the possible implementation of a UCC, Deo Kumar Dhan, coordinator of the Adivasi Samanvay Samiti said, “There is no way tribal societies in Jharkhand will accept the erasure of their customary laws and practices, which have already been recognised and codified through centuries of struggle by our people.”

He explained that as far as Jharkhand is concerned, there are laws such as the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, the Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act, the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act, which recognise the customary practices of tribals, their customary procedures to resolve civil disputes and gives village committee the power to operate based on these customs. 

“The government cannot impose its own rules and procedures on us. That is what they tried to do in Manipur and we are all seeing what is happening. It is imperative that Jharkhand is exempted from UCC to ensure that a Manipur-like situation does not end up occurring here,” Mr. Dhan said.