Mizoram CM Lalduhoma defends amended customary laws amid social media debate

Aizawl, Feb 28 (PTI) Amid intense social media debate, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma has said the recent amendments to the Mizo marriage and property inheritance law were not a unilateral government initiative but based on consensus among key stakeholders.

The Mizo Marriage and Inheritance of Property (Amendment) Bill, introduced by Lalduhoma, who also holds the Law portfolio, was passed by the Assembly earlier this month.

The new legislation further codifies customary law and strengthens the principal Act of 2014, introducing changes relating to polygamy, inter-community marriage and women’s property rights.

While the Bill introduces a landmark ban on polygamy and grants women rights to 50 per cent of matrimonial property, it has sparked intense debate over an interpretation of a clause by the chief minister that potentially strips Mizo women of their Mizo identity and Scheduled Tribe (ST) status if they marry non-Mizo men.

Mizoram's largest women's organisation, the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP), on Friday urged the state government to withdraw the Bill, calling it potentially "unsafe" for Mizo women.

Responding to the criticism, Lalduhoma said the Bill was based on recommendations of the Mizo Customary Law Review Committee, which comprises representatives of 10 organisations, including MHIP, the Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), and experts from Mizoram University and the state law college.

Speaking during a discussion on a private member’s resolution in the Assembly on Friday, the chief minister said the earlier Mizo Marriage, Divorce and Inheritance of Property Act, 2014, provided that if a Mizo woman married a person from another community, she was deemed to have "entered" her husband’s family, effectively separating her from Mizo customary rights.

Consequently, in the recently amended law, according to Lalduhoma, they normally considered that if a Mizo woman marries a non-tribal man, she immediately loses her tribal status and her children will also no longer be able to obtain a Tribal Certificate.

"Our customary law does not clearly explain the situation or status of Mizo women who marry outside the community, rather, it simply rejects them. It is worth considering whether it is time to review these points. Furthermore, our customary law is completely silent on the status of their children who are raised strictly according to Mizo culture and traditions," the chief minister had said.

Referring to a May 1977 circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to state chief secretaries regarding children born out of inter-caste or inter-tribe marriages, Lalduhoma said a Tribal Certificate could be issued if the child was brought up as a tribal by the mother, had faced similar deprivations as the community and was accepted by it.

However, he noted that the circular specified that such cases should be decided on merit and not treated as a general rule.

In October 2019, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment issued another circular regarding the status of children of divorced women, using the same criteria as the Home Ministry, he had said.

The chief minister said a Supreme Court ruling last November was specific to the individual petitioner and not an overarching judgment applicable to all Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes.

Observing that inter-community marriages were inevitable in today’s "global village", Lalduhoma urged people to move away from an "insular mentality".

He had urged the public to move away from an "insular mentality," noting that he personally knows many Mizo women married to non-Mizos living abroad or elsewhere in India who are highly respected and continue to support Mizo communities.

Acknowledging the complexity of the issue, Lalduhoma had also suggested that a committee be formed to look deeper into the complex status of Mizo women marrying outside their community and their children. PTI CORR MNB