Criteria of ‘Indigenous’ must be uniformly applicable, to men and women
Our Correspondent
Kohima | August 11
The Banuo Commission on Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) report presented at the recently concluded 8th session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) has stated that marriage should not deny a woman the benefits she is entitled to.
As per the report, interactive sessions were held with women bodies of different tribal hohos as the Commission was of the opinion that women were as much concerned as men, with issues relating to ‘indigenous inhabitants.’
“Therefore, the women bodies of the respective tribal hohos, were invited to the interactive sessions. With the exception of the Lotha tribe, the women groups of all the Naga tribes attended the meeting held jointly with the men. They participated in the discussions and contributed their views and comments on the questionnaires as well,” according to the report that was presented at the recently concluded 8th session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA).
In its findings, the Commission stated that it was the unanimous view of all the groups that ‘indigenous’ must be by birth/ancestral lineage, it was therefore impressed on them that the criteria must be uniformly applicable, to men and women.
The Commission was of the view that in a situation where a woman marries a non-tribal, her indigenous identity should not be taken away; she should continue to enjoy whatever privileges/benefits that are due to an indigenous inhabitant/Scheduled Tribe/Backward Tribe.
The report stated that an opinion was voiced that this may lead to complications of financial frauds, income tax and wealth tax.
In this regard, the report stated that, “Apprehension of its misuse should not be a ground to deny her the right. Her husband and her children will not however be eligible for such privileges. Just a marriage should not deny a woman the benefits she is entitled to, marriage cannot entitle a woman to benefits, if she herself is not eligible.”
Further, the essence of the standing government order Vide P&AR department Office Memorandum No.AR-8/19/79 dated 01/06/2009 was brought to the attention of all the groups, whereby it has been notified that acquisition of such eligibility, through marriage/adoption, is not permissible.
Status of women still ‘very tradition-bound’
Meanwhile, the report also stated that through the interactive sessions, the Commission observed that the status of Naga women in Naga society, as well as among the other four Non-Naga tribes, is still very ‘insular and tradition-bound’.
“While it is not the intention of the Commission to show disrespect or interfere in the customs and traditions of the various tribes on marriage, the conditions mentioned about the status of a woman post-marriage/divorcé, give her a very tenuous and transient nature of identity. It took some time for the members of the Commission to put across the understanding that in authenticating the identity of a woman,” the report stated.
According to the report, it was the general stance of all the groups, that after marriage, a woman’s identity is totally merged with that of her husband.
“The status of a woman post-divorce and that of a widow, were also touched upon. It appeared to be the general consensus that on being divorced by her husband, or in the case of a widow, the woman can return to her parental family, who would ‘adopt’ her again into the family. Her pre-marriage identity would therefore be restored,” the report stated.
The status of a woman, whose husband does not belong to any of the recognized tribes of the state, was also discussed.
It was observed that in such a case, most of the tribes considered her to be no longer part of her community and tribe. This appears to be consistent with the view that after marriage, a woman’s identity is totally merged with that of her husband.
Consistent with the tradition of merging her identity with that of her husband, it was expressed by many of the groups that a non-tribal wife or one not belonging to a ‘backward tribe’ is eligible to the privileges/benefits that the husband enjoys, on the basis of marriage, the report stated.
