Kohima, August 9 (MExN): Kohima Law College observed ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ with the theme, “The role of indigenous women in the preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge” at its college premises on August 9
Addressing the event, Media Cell of the college in a press release stated that Kohima Law College, Assistant Professor and Advocate, Kezhokhoto Savi stated that Indigenous Peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique culture and ways of relating to people and the environment. “They face discrimination because of their distinct cultures, identities and ways of life, and are disproportionately affected by poverty and margilisation, accounting for 15 per cent of the world’s poorest population,” he stated.
Savi said that the Indigenous Peoples are generally regarded as the “original inhabitants” of a territory or region. “Today the original inhabitants of the Nagas in Nagaland must seriously consider the proposed Registered Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) which should not affect the rights of the Naga indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland and it is very important to take it as a very serious measure not to register the same to others. The date line of the year of settlement should not qualify a non-Naga/non-indigenous for the proposed registration,” he said.
Further, the advocate said that the practice of adoption is to be discouraged amongst the indigenous people of Nagas in Nagaland especially adopting a non-indigenous person or child. “In this regard, the adopted non-indigenous Naga would not have the right to own the land as the Article 371A of Indian Constitution provided that only the Naga Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland can only owned the land,” he observed.
Asserting that the cry and voices of the indigenous people must be heard on this day, Savi said, “The Naga people should never allow any mechanism to exploit the rights of the indigenous inhabitants of the land.”
Earlier, he reminded the students to acknowledge this day as important in recognizing the rights to the “Naga inhabitant people.” He said that Article 371A of the Constitution of India is considered as a special right to the Naga Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland as indigenous people where it provides a provision to protect the Naga indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland from their own way of life, its land and resources.
“The entire surface of the earth crust within the territory of Nagaland should be owned by the Naga Indigenous and not by the Non-Indigenous inhabitant of Nagaland (The Nagaland and Revenue Regulation Amendment Act, 1978),” he asserted.
“Nagas in other states such as Arunachal, Manipur, Assam, etc are the indigenous inhabitants of those respective states and they are not the indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland and accordingly they not entitled to own land as per Nagaland and Revenue Regulation Amendment Act, 1978,” Savi stated.
