On August 31, 2019, the Arunachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (APSLSA) in collaboration with Studio Nilima organized a Seminar on Constitutional Rights of Tribes and Indigenous people of North-East India. The day long seminar, held at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh (AP), was attended by our trustees Justice (Retd.) B.P Katakey, Former Judge of the Gauhati High Court, Mr. Nilay Dutta, Advocate General of Arunachal Pradesh and Senior Advocate and Mr. Apurba Kumar Sharma, Executive Chairman of the Bar Council of India and Senior Advocate and our members Bonnya Boruah, Ankita Paul and Vedika Pareek.

The panel members of the seminar were Hon’ble (Retd.) Justice B.P. Katakey, Former Judge of the Gauhati High Court; Hon’ble Mr. (Retd.) Justice B.K. Sarma, Former Judge of the Gauhati High Court; Mr. Nilay Dutta, Sr. Advocate, Advocate General of AP, and President of Studio Nilima; Mr. Apurba Kr. Sharma, Sr. Advocate and Executive Chairman of the Bar Council of India; Mr. T.T. Tara, Advocate, Former Addl. Advocate General of the Govt. of AP; Mr. Budi Habung, Member Secretary, APSLSA. Each of the panel members addressed the audience on different questions concerning indigenous rights of the people of Arunachal Pradesh. Through their speeches, the panelists explained the various sources of protection available to the indigenous people of AP apart from Article 371H and despite not being included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Addressing the fear surrounding the fate of the special provision for the state of AP, all members of the panel echoed the opinion that the safeguard for AP is a ‘special’ provision, whereas that of Jammu and Kashmir were ‘temporary’ and therefore the normal procedure of amendment under Article 368 of the Constitution of India will have to be followed. A comprehensive report of proceedings of the conference can be accessed below.