The correct answer is Option 1- Validity of pre-existing laws and protection of local identity
Article 371A confers validity on pre-existing laws within Nagaland and protects local identity through restrictions on immigration.
By introducing the article concerning North-East (Art. 371), the Indian Constitution anticipates the very important concept of asymmetric federalism. The Constitution has created a strong central government. But despite this unitary bias of the Indian Constitution, there are important constitutionally embedded differences between the legal status and prerogatives of different sub-units within the same federation. Unlike the constitutional symmetry of American federalism, Indian federalism has been constitutionally asymmetric. To meet the specific needs and requirements of some sub-units, it was always part of the original design to have a unique relationship with them or to give them special status. Under Article 371A, the privilege of special status was also accorded to the North-Eastern State of Nagaland. This Article not only confers validity on pre-existing laws within Nagaland, but also protects local identity through restrictions on immigration. Many other States too, are beneficiaries of such special provisions. According to the Indian Constitution, then, there is nothing bad about this differential treatment. Although the Constitution did not originally envisage this, India is now a multi-lingual federation. Each major linguistic group is politically recognised and all are treated as equals. Thus, the democratic and linguistic federalism of India has managed to combine claims to unity with claims to cultural recognition. A fairly robust political arena exists that allows for the play of multiple identities that complement one another. |
