By Fabian Lyngdoh
As far as my knowledge goes there is no tradition among the Khasis pertaining to a ‘Dorbar Ri’ (People’s Parliament) to deliberate issues concerning the whole tribe, but there was only a mythological dorbar in which not only human beings but also animals, including u Thlen (serpent) attended and participated on equal terms with men. As to the need for unity and regulation of the tribe as a whole, sufficiently powerful religious and moral codes and social norms have been devised and operated through the kur (clan) and other social institutions. The highest political dorbar among the Khasis is the dorbar hima in each and every hima.
That is why the signing of the Instrument of Accession by the President of the Federation of the Khasi States on the 8th August, 1947 had no significance at all until each of the chiefs of the Khasi States signed it individually on behalf of their own respective States. After independence of India, new constitutional provisions were made in the form of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution for the administration of tribal areas in the then State of Assam. The Sixth Schedule provides for protection of traditional leadership institutions and land management systems; it guarantees preservation of traditional customs, laws and institutions of the tribal societies under the regulation and control of Autonomous District Councils. It was assumed that through such protective mechanisms and the constitutional mandate to make laws and implement them in accordance with the Constitution of India, the tribes would be able to protect their customs and traditions and would also develop in their own way and at their own pace.
The ‘White Paper on Indian States’ published by the Ministry of States, Government of India, declares that it was considered desirable to preserve some of the tribal traditions and customs of the Khasi States; so accordingly, under the Constitution of India the Khasi States have been included in the Sixth Schedule. In the year 1950, the Khasi Peoples’ Parliament: ‘Dorbar Ri’ By Fabian Lyngdoh Khasi States were merged with the State of Assam, and by the merger the Khasi chiefs lost whatever ruling power they had over the territories under them, while on the other hand, large measure of local autonomy has been conceded to the District Council. Consequently, the United Khasi-Jaintia Autonomous District Council (UKJHADC) came into being on the 27th June, 1952.
The traditional chiefs of the himas/elakas are to continue as usual but subject to the provisions of the Sixth Schedule. The District Council passed a law in 1959 to regulate the appointments and successions of chiefs and headmen as well as their removal and suspension, and all orders passed by the Council in these regards are final. Thence forward, the chiefs are to carry out all the orders issued to them from time to time by the District Council.
It was also provided that the chiefs should conduct themselves in accordance with the established customs and usages approved by the District Council and in accordance with the rules, laws and regulations that the District Council may issue from time to time. On the 1st December, 1964, the United KhasiJaintia Hills Autonomous District Council was bifurcated and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council was created not on grounds of distinct ethnic identity, but for administrative expediency. For the first time in the history of the Hynniew Trep tribe, a People’s Parliament for the whole tribe was constituted on 27th June, 1952, in the form of an Autonomous District Council. This is the constitutional ‘Dorbar Ri’ (People’s Parliament) of the Khasis which is legally authorised to protect and regulate the traditional institutions in all ‘ki hima’ under its jurisdiction, not by the authority of selective clans, but by the authority of the jaidbynriew (tribe) through the elected representatives of the people. Hence, the District Council is not a foreign authority, but a Khasi ‘Dorbar Ri.’
There was no traditional ‘Dorbar Ri’ among the Khasis in the past, and there can be no other ‘Dorbar Ri’ in the present except the Autonomous District Council. At present in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council there are twenty nine elected representatives and one member nominated by the State Government who are authorised by law to deliberate and pass resolutions on issues pertaining to the interests of the tribe. In the KHADC for example, all the inhabitants of the East Khasi Hills District, Ri Bhoi District, West Khasi Hills District, and South West Khai Hills District are represented in this ‘Dorbar Ri’ by their respective MDCs. The District Council was constituted precisely for balancing the interests of the tribe with the basic constitutional tenets of the Indian Republic. It is the doorway through which the Khasi traditional institutions can have a legitimate link with the Indian Republic, and it is also the doorway through which the Indian Republic can legitimately accommodate the Khasi traditional institutions. No other agency can stand as a legitimate doorway to link the Indian Republic with the Khasi tribe other than the District Council. The Chief Executive Member (CEM) is the leader of this honourable ‘Dorbar Ri’ and he has a great responsibility towards fulfilling the given mandate.
A casual gathering of few thousand people without ‘ka sad ka sunon’ (perpetual succession), in any private or public place cannot make a ‘Dorbar Ri.’ One MDC represents and deliberates on behalf of not less than twenty thousand citizens in the KHADC. It is a foolish ignorance for anyone to consider a casual crowd listening to the lectures of few individual speakers at the podium as a ‘Dorbar Ri.’ For a CEM of the District Council to convene such a casual gathering and to pass political resolutions outside the District Council is an insult not only to the honour and dignity of the Autonomous District Council, but it is also an insult to his colleagues who represent thousands of citizens from their respective constituencies. Resolutions passed by such a gathering, even though it is convened by the CEM of the District Council, are worth not more than the resolutions of ordinary NGOs. Constitutionally, the Grand Council of Chiefs and the Federation of Khasi States are only NGOs, and their meetings cannot be called ‘Dorbar Ri,’ and their resolutions cannot have legal authority. Constitutionally the Khasi States have become subordinate bodies of the District Council which is a real constitutional ‘Dorbar Ri.’ Hence to treat the meetings of a non-statutory association of syiems and sirdars as a ‘Dorbar Ri’ is an insult to the constitutional status and dignity of the District Council. The present Khasi chiefs are not representing the people, not even their own clans.
It seems that the Syiem of Hima Mylliem was not deputed by his own clan, and does not represent his clan as used to be the Khasi tradition, and as still being practised in Hima Khyrim. The syiems today can be elected by a majority of the myntris whether they have the general will of their clans or not. This is a new tradition established by the British. According to the Khasi tradition, the jait syiem is appointed by ki bakhraw, and can be removed by ki bakhraw, but the person who represents the jait syiem as a syiem in the dorbar is deputed by the jait syiem itself according to the line of ka sad ka sunon, and ki bakhraw have nothing to interfere unless there are serious reasons to do so. I do not mean to point out whether the traditional or the British system is better, but just to point out the originality of the tradition. If the MDCs feel that their resolutions in the House need to be authenticated by a crowd, then they are not the representatives of the people. If the people, including the MDCs cannot realize, or refuse to recognize the constitutional status and dignity of the Autonomous District Council as a legitimate ‘Dorbar Ri,’ in which every Khasi inhabitant of the ‘Ri Khasi’ is represented by his or her MDC, and if the meetings of a casual crowd in market places and playgrounds are still preferred and given more importance than to the sessions of the Council, then it is really the time to abolish the District Council. The wise say that ‘if everybody says you are an ass, then it is the time to bray.