TNN
 
Panaji, Nov 27: Goa deserves a special status in view of its centuries-old traditional systems like comunidades and existence of large areas covered by tribal communities, B D Sharma, an authority on tribal affairs said.

Stating that after Goa’s liberation from the Portuguese, the state had superimposed its own system on a living system, steeped in its own customs and traditions. “This is the main cause of the conflict today,” Sharma said.

After Goa’s merger into the Indian Union, the traditional systems of local communities were superseded by some general laws of the country, though Goa should have been given a special status of a scheduled area like Nagaland. The government of India had enacted provisions of the Panchayat (Extension to the Schedule Areas) Act, 1996, which helped in protection local institutions of governance.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference organised by Council for Social Justice and Peace (CJSP), Sharma said the right to manage all affairs in accordance with its traditions was every community’s inherent right. “ The community came into existence before the advent of the state and will remain even after the state withers away. The gram sabhas comprise the community at the village level. And this natural right of the community must be respected,” Sharma said.

Stressing that the gram sabha is absolutely supreme, and all locals laws and traditions need to be protected, he said, “It is unfortunate that Goa got missed out from the exclusion offered through 5th and 6th Schedule of the Constitution.”

Goa had many age-old traditions, such as comunidades, which were compared to village republics undertaking all development activities in their jurisdiction. “Goa had comunidade system, dha zann and other traditions even in remote villages like Cotigao,” Soter D’Souza of National Panchayati Raj said.