ABSTRACT
The bulky Indian constitution incorporating unique provisions to sustain the unity of the country is the crystal-clear testimony that India is a nation of multiple nations. The Northeast region of India is bestowed with staggering diversities of ethnicity having varied aspirations. Owing to its historical and cultural specificities, sui generis constitutional arrangements are made for the region. One such special constitutional provision is the Sixth Schedule which deals with the administration of the tribal areas of the region. Interestingly, the tribal people inhabiting the tribal areas covered under the Sixth Schedule are at the forefront of the demand for separate states. The rationale for the demands ranges from the exploitation of their rights by the dominant community and the deprivation of a political–financial autonomy to the discrimination and imposition of dominant culture upon them. At this juncture, many see the exertion of the Sixth Schedule as a springboard to clamour for statehood in these tribal areas. Obviously, the inevitable question is whether the Sixth Schedule fails to fulfil the ends it seeks to serve. Is not the Sixth Schedule being employed as a constitutional groundwork to ignite the demand for separate statehood? Are the demands for separate states and the Sixth Schedule contradictory? This essay examines the intricate correlation between the Sixth Schedule and the demand for statehood in the Sixth Schedule areas.
