Some of those who voted YES had this to say:
• Yes. Of course universal human rights should be given priority over and above customary law in Nagaland. The term customary law in Nagaland is an abused term and is being misused by a lot of people. This needs to be rectified. No doubt customs and traditions are important and are the backbone of our Naga culture, but we must admit that we have moved far away from our forefathers time. We need to retrospect seriously.
• Yes. In our society, the so-called customary law is infringing and violating our human rights. So when customary law is degrading our human worth, how can customary law be given priority over human rights.
• Human right is the foundation of any democratic society. Without human rights there can be no progress and no peace.
• Yes. Human rights have to do with respecting the inherent value of each person. To take away that is to dehumanize that person and treat him or her as less than what God intended. Whereas, customary laws aren't necessarily God-given. They are just practices and traditions passed on from one generation to the next.
• Absolutely. At any given time human rights must triumph over customary law.
• Yes. Among the nagas universal humanity is maintaining. If customary law is set above the universal human rights there will arise a serious problem of social disorder, customary law be modified to match the universal human rights.
Some of those who voted NO had this to say:
• No. The universal human rights is not complete without customary law. They are two sides of the same coin. They need to be read together. The problem in Nagaland is that our customary law needs to be modernised for the present situation.
• No. These are two sides of the same coin. In relation to international affairs, universal human rights will apply. However, in regard to local and indigenous issues, Naga customary law will prevail, although it is imperative to make improved changes without compromising age old values to protect our rights and aspirations.
• No. The word universal says it because universal human rights is the principle, whereas customary law is the practical implementation of it.
• Not at all. From international law point of view, the customary law is equally important. Some of the concepts of universal human rights are derived from customary law.
Some of those who voted OTHERS had this to say:
• Time has changed. We can't relive the past. UHRs is viable in our diversified context, but it should be supplemented by selective customary laws in a view of acknowledging and preserving our unique culture.
• There's a fine line that differentiate between the two, some hampers the customs and traditional practices... & are not necessary to be given priority, its just selfish human wants and doesn't even make it to human rights.
• In a society like ours, we need our customary laws as well as the Human rights. We need a house that'll balance both, not giving priority to a specific one. Because our customary laws are as much important as the Human rights and vice-versa. The only thing to do is taking both into account and "do the right thing" by law and justice.
• What so sacrosanct about customary law? Is it in tune with modern values? We need progress not regress. American revolution that give birth to bill of rights, french revolution that led to declaration of rights of men. This is how democracies have evolved n the universal democratic values n ideals r derived from it. We dont need medieval customs n tradition in this 21 century.
• This customary law which falls under Art. 371 (a) need to meticulously scrutinize, re-examine according to the relevancy of today's post modern world. To my personal observation. it gave many social, cultural and economical wellbeing provision yet while looking at the other side of the coin with respect of nagaland and its people, their is an irrelevancy in many areas which dwarf the social economic growth.
• In a society like ours where customs and tradition are deeply rooted and it's practices are higly regarded it is a big challenge for our people. The patriarchal or the conservative nature of our people itself has put the society in a coma. But I also say that if it will bring a kind of progress there is nothing wrong making choices and priorities in this regard. May be our society has also reached a time like Indians were in once upon a time when a dilemma arose among the intellectuals and scholars. Some of them their interest towards the modernisation and westernisation make them felt to give up the old customs and practices while some who opposed it to revive or reform the old one. Also taking the socio-economic rights and status (rights of inheritance or property rights) of our women into concern we have to make necessary arrangement and make sure that rights are enjoy equally by all.
