Bar Aadhaar Act's application in Nagaland: NSF

PTI, Kohima, 1 Nov 2017: The Naga Students' Federation (NSF) has expressed its apprehension that the imposition of the Aadhaar card or UID number in Nagaland would be a threat to the Naga customary law and identity.

The apex students' body in the north-eastern state, in a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister T R Zeliang yesterday, said, "Special provisions granted to Nagaland under Article 371A of the Constitution exempt the state from the applicability of the Acts of Parliament in respect of the religious or social practices of the Nagas and their customary law and procedure.

It urged the state government to bar the applicability of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 in the state, pending the final Indo-Naga solution.

The NSF stated that the Nagaland Assembly had a special prerogative to decide whether an Act of Parliament should be made applicable to the state.

"It is thus, the bounden duty of the State Legislative Assembly to defend, protect, uphold and advance the sanctity of this special status conferred by the Constitution of India.

The right to self-determination is the inalienable right of the Nagas," it said.

The imposition of the Aadhaar card or UID number would be a big threat to the Naga customary law and identity, the NSF said in the memorandum.

It also said a free enjoyment of social benefits, within the fabric of a collective social identity, was sacred to the Nagas.

"Any denial in the name of identity numerisation is inimical to the social and religious practices of the Nagas," the memorandum said.