By Toki Blah
If there is one thing that can be said about the Hynniewtrep people, it is that for the last 100 years we have been a people in constant search for our identity. The last sixty years or so of this search has been a roller coaster ride of sorts with all kinds of ups and downs, twists and turns, but with the end of the journey nowhere in sight. The main discourse hangs around a question – what are the aspects in the Hynniewtrep socio-cultural composition that can be identified as Identity? Is it our food habits? The way we dress, the way we dance, lineage, our land holding system? Is it language or does it really revolve round aspects of culture, tradition and the hundred and one things associated with our day to day indigenous way of life. Do we have anything tangible to go by or is this quest for Identity steered and motivated primarily by vague beliefs, fables and myths from dim unrecorded history?
As we speak of history, there is this fascinating interpretation of the origins and ancient migration of the Khasi People. The ‘Out of Africa’ theory speaks of the origin and ancient migration of early Homo sapiens and a branch that we now call as Austro Asiatics first arrived and settled in India. This Austro Asiatic population in India is today divided into the Mundari group (central India) and the Khasi group of NE India. Interestingly the Khasis are the only NE Tribe of Austro Asiatic descent and are presumed to have settled in their present location 50,000 YBP (years before present). Other NE Tribes are of Tibeto- Burman ancestry. Dr Glen Kharkongor, Pro Chancellor of Martin Luther Christian University is a great proponent of this theory and of migration of the Khasis from here to SE Asia and not the other way round. This genetic connectivity can be termed as the DNA interpretation of Hynniewtrep history and with it the origin, migratory route and final destination of the Hynniewtrep people. This historical background, along with its myths and legends, is simply one facet in our identity while the current anxiety is more on the present and future profile of Hynniewtrep identity than its past.
A larger question pops up. Why this collective yearning for identity? How important is Identity and why? Probably had the world left us alone this identity crisis would not have arisen. British occupation, the advent of education, Independence and acquiring Scheduled Tribe status, statehood, aspects of a welfare state and now globalisation have simply accentuated the complexities of a global village in a shrinking world. The fear of being swamped over cannot perhaps be understood by others, but it is there, and we have reacted to it in two distinct ways. First, there is that knee jerk emotional response for retreating into our shells. To preserve Identity, the call for isolating ourselves from the rest of the world becomes shrill and unreasonable. Secondly, in this collective uproar, the voice of reason and rationality is lost and remains unheard. The fact that an isolationist policy is the surest way towards irrelevance and extinction of Identity is then lost sight of. A Paradox of U Hynniewtrep – in attempting to preserve Identity, Identity itself becomes threatened!
Common sense and investing in a bit of futuristic thinking will show that India needs to open up and the NE with it. The process has already started. As the Hynniewtrep people become more and more exposed to Globalisation together with an increased interaction with others, the need for preserving Identity becomes accentuated. So how do we determine Identity and also the mechanisms needed to preserve and promote it? Within the context of the Indian Constitution, do we have the autonomy and the institutions to take up legislative mechanisms on promoting and preserving Identity? Surprisingly Yes! We have the Legislative Assembly and the State Government composed entirely of our own indigenous representatives. We have the Autonomous District Councils, Constitutionally empowered to legislate specifically on issues of tradition and culture. Our traditional institutions survive and are functioning. Doubtful if anybody else has been endowed with such Institutional power to preserve Identity. Why then this angst about Identity?
It’s now quite obvious that one of the main reasons for this identity crisis is the collapse of governance or the inability of our institutions of governance to work in the larger interests of the people. These institutions function for something else, for some other purpose than that which they are meant for. Firstly these institutions were supposed to work for the welfare and wellbeing of the community. This unfortunately has been abandoned and we find them now existing for the vested interests of a political party or its elected members. Secondly these institutions were expected, to work in tandem with each other. Instead Institutions of governance in Meghalaya view each other with the greatest suspicion and mistrust. In the process, Governance (ka synshar khaddar) has been corrupted, contaminated and made visionless. Governance credibility loss has been mainly responsible for the sense of insecurity and uncertainty in the public mind. Upper most in people’s mind is a question, “What will happen to us and our children? What sort of tomorrow awaits us?” Those responsible for Governance have steadfastly refused to provide answers! Their interest is in their today and five years is the limit of their vision.
Traditional political and governance systems of U Khun U Hynniewtrep, has always revolved round the Kur or the clan. The Kur determined location of habitation and areas of settlement (shnongs).Once this took place the administration within such villages and the social and political issues within the community, were decided by elders of the Kur. The Kur intervened and arbitrated on behalf of the individual and his family. Communication was oral or by word of mouth. In the absence of codified laws and customs, social interactions were therefore determined by a strict code of conduct guided by impeccable value systems. Ban pdiang ia kaba bha ban bret ia kaba sniew; ban kamai ia ka Hok (the urge to always strive for justice); da ka thew ka woh; da ka nia ka jutang (to arrive at conclusions through logical reasoning); ka akor ka burom; Ka ktien kaba tam (the spoken word and honour are above everything else). Each kur lived by these ethical codes of conduct and collectively the kurs made up the Jaitbynriew.
It’s really so simple. We have value systems that bind the jaitbynriew together. Values that unite us as a community, as a tribe, as a people. It is this value based unity that qualifies us as “Ka Jatbynriew tip briew tip blei”. It defines our identity, where identity is bound together by cultural values irrespective of the faith we follow; where we are and what we do. Our forefathers flourished with this identity, thrived with a sense of pride and sense of social wellbeing. It was identity based on universal social principles. Sadly this has changed. Today the Hynniewtrep people have handed over their destiny to unprincipled and divisive politics. Our politicians, ardent patriots that they are, continuously exhort and urge us to unite as a Jaitbynriew, but with a different funda. No values; no principles required, only a funny notion called “ka sur u paidbah”. A crowd of drunks at Motphran; a motor rally of underaged slogan shouting children; a horde of paid hooligans; a covey of purchased voters and these are proudly proclaimed as “Ka sur u paidbah, ka sur u Blei” (The voice of the people is the voice of God). Who’re they trying to fool?
We seldom realise that “ka sur u paidbah” can easily be manipulated and public opinion can be manufactured. Unfortunately that is exactly what has been happening and how the public has been hoodwinked. Khasi leaders today swear by Majority Rule and it is difficult to identify a Khasi Pnar leader ready to stand by the principles of Right and Wrong. Majority Rule determines who occupies the chair and that is all that matters. Money is the latest weapon to ensure Majority and we have blindly gone along with it. Principled and value based governance has been done away with, creating within the Khasi psyche, social disquiet and anxiety. There is an increased desire to rediscover identity and to recapture unity. Today however when Khasis speak of unity it is always politically oriented. I for one simply don’t understand what it means. It’s meaningless political tripe. And that’s the problem we face with our Identity.