A post is being shared on Facebook with a claim that the applicability of Article 370 has been extended to Nagaland by the Modi government. Let’s try to analyze the claims made in the post.
Claim: Article 370 applicability extended to Nagaland. Modi gave a green signal to Nagaland for having separate flag and passport. Now, Indians cannot buy land in Nagaland.
Fact: Article 371 A in the Indian constitution deals with Nagaland, not Article 370. Even, if the government want to extend the applicability of Article 370, it can only do that by amending the constitution. No such amendment was introduced in the Parliament. Also, there are already existing restrictions on buying the land in Nagaland by Indians from other states. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When searched for the special provisions of Nagaland and Article 370 on Google, it was found that special provisions to Nagaland are given under Article 371-A whereas Article 370 deals only with the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Both Article 370 and 371-A can be found in the Part XXI (Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions) of the Indian Constitution. Article 370 does not deal with Nagaland. Even if the government wants to extend the applicability of Article 370 to Nagaland, it can only do that by amending the constitution. But no such amendment was introduced in the Parliament.
BJP in its 2019 Lok Sabha Manifesto has mentioned that it supports the abrogation of Article 370 and also, the annulment of Article 35A. So, it is very unlikely that it will extend the Article 370 to Nagaland.
The post says that Indians cannot buy land in Nagaland after Modi extended Article 370 to Nagaland. But even if Article 370 is not extended to Nagaland, Indians from other states cannot buy land in Nagaland due to some special provisions provided to the state.
It can be found on the internet that similar news related to Facebook post was published by an online site – ‘E-Pao’. The news on the website is titled ‘GOI approves separate passport and flag for Nagas: Reports’ but does not give any proper source for the information provided. Also, the same news was found on another website – ‘Imphal Times’ without any proper source. Both the websites write that the demands were approved under the Naga Peace Accord but nothing was reported in the mainstream media about the finalization of the accord.
To sum it up, Article 370 has not been extended to Nagaland.
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