By Fabian Lyngdoh
Life is manifested in a process of change, and social change is part of the process of human collective life. Social order in every human society is established on the balance between individual freedom and the collective order within a particular set of conditions of human existence. But changes in the conditions of human existence such as environmental changes, change in demographic structure, scientific inventions, economic changes, cultural diffusion, military invasions, accumulated base of knowledge etc., shift the point of balance between individual freedom and the collective order this way and that way because these coordinates of social order are never in perfect equilibrium. Society evolved, developed and undergoes constant changes to accommodate the swing of the point of justice, to restore the balance and relief the tension.
Social change is a universal phenomenon occurring in human community as an essential law for modification or replacement in the social structure to accommodate emerging circumstances. Social control at a particular point of time always seeks to maintain status quo and resists change, while the whole society and its structure is being pulled and pushed constantly by the process of social change imperceptibly yet constantly exerting conflict with status quo. And, as social change is persistent; it always overcomes status quo unconsciously and imperceptibly through a time span transcending the perception of individual member or of a particular generation. People living in particular era conceive social structure as permanent and unchanging while social change is taking place all along escaping their perception.
There are two forces acting on any social system: (i) the inertia of rest that resists change exerted usually by those who are in control of the institutionalized collective order. This force which projects cultural tradition as God-given and immutable is a conscious force exerted by those who benefit more and living advantageously from the prevailing system. (ii) The inertia of motion exerted by individual freedom ever seeking for readjustment of the balance of justice. This inertia of motion for change is the summation of unconscious force exerted by individual freedom in different forms of deviation from traditional values and norms. Deviations from traditional norms are followed by those who feel disadvantaged, or not in a position to achieve fulfilment in the normative setting. It is the feeling of advantage or disadvantage which determines conformity or deviation. If there are wide spread deviations in any normative setting, there must be more people feeling disadvantaged in that setting and hence that normative setting has become unjust and needs readjustment through social change.
General deviations from traditional social norms should not be conceived of as deviant behaviour against the social order. On the other hand, in a changed set of circumstances, some aspects of traditional social norms may have become deviations from the point of justice. Hence, no social norm should ever be taken as permanent and immutable. It is this fixed and immutable concept of social norms which legitimizes State’s authority even in oppressive dictatorship or burdens the society with tyrannical redundant customs.
The Khasi society established on the basis of the balance of justice between individual freedom and collective order remains the same from the beginning till today. But its social structure and institutions including all its values, norms, customs, beliefs and practices as the super-structures that evolved for the maintenance of order in society, did not remain static but keep on changing and modifying from generation to generation in response to changes in the conditions of human existence. This is evident in the general deviations from traditional norms observed in the Khasi society today.
Though reckoning of surname through matrilineal lineage is still maintained by majority of the people, yet all other aspects of the traditional Kur system are no longer in practice and the society is re-established on the basis of the nuclear families. With regard to the religious life, believers of the indigenous faith have instituted new forms of religious organisations in place of the Kur with units in the villages to supervise the moral and spiritual life of their members, through new forms of religious rites relevant to the present circumstances. Christianity among majority of the Khasis who adopted the faith not under any external persuasion or compulsion but out of their own free will, has become integrated with the Khasi traditional values and ideals.
The ‘Raid’ which was the basic political commune has declined in authority when its ‘Kyntoit’ (hamlets) became transformed into modern villages; and the ‘Matabors’, ‘Pators’ and ‘Tymmen Shnongs’ in charge of the hamlets were replaced by the modern Rangbah Shnong, and the Dorbar Shnong emerged more powerful than the Dorbar-Longsan of the Raid.
The Dorbar Shnong governing a Khasi village today is a new governance institution evolving out of the amalgamation of the Khasi clan-based democracy and the individual-based modern popular democracy. It is a modern replica of the powerful traditional Dorbar Raid operating in new social situations. In the modern Dorbar Shnong all the Khasi inhabitants became the ‘binong-bishon’ with political rights, and the non-Khasi inhabitants take over the place of the ‘shongthap-shongbiang’, who can avail equal rights in civic welfare services but with no political rights. Unlike the Dorbar-Longsan of the Raid, the Dorbar Shnong is no more a clan-based institution but open to all the resident adult males of the village. With this new development, community religions connected with socio-political life have long been abandoned in most of the Raids and Himas.
All these changes became integrated in the society in response to changing conditions of human existence. Balance in the social order is maintained and the Khasi society is still alive and kicking in a new avatar. There is nothing to lament about these changes because they are taking place to re-establish the balance of justice in a changing society. If these social changes did not take place with the shift in the point of justice, there would be tensions and conflicts in the social order; and if these changes are curtailed by the force of law, violent revolutions would be the outcome.
The balance of social order is continuously influenced by the current general will, which itself is being shaped by the changing conditions of human existence. The relevance of social norms and customs does not depend on their inherent values but on the general acceptance of the members of society living in the current generation; and their acceptance or rejection can be observed in the degree of conformity and deviation from particular norms or customs. The coming generation would establish its base on the conditions of human existence of the current generation. What shall be transmitted to the next generation is not the spirit of the distant past but the standard and values of the current generation. The wish, the need, and the aspirations of the current generation are the sign posts for assessing the relevancy of social norms, institutions and customs. It is the aspirations and standard of the current generation that shall be transmitted to the next generation not the spirit of the distant ancestors.
In this situation of change, there is an ungrounded feeling that the cohesion of the Khasi society is weakened due to the general deterioration in the character of the people. But in reality, despite many changes, the social order in the Khasi society is still strong and comparatively more peaceful and more accommodative than any other tribal society in North East India. General deterioration in people’s character as assessed in the light of existing moral standards is not caused by internal social changes, and not a peculiarity of the Khasi society alone, but it is a worldwide phenomenon. It is happening among all communities in the world due to the weakening of traditional systems of social control, when the universal materialistic outlook is conquering all the cultural systems bringing with it the norm-less and value-free understanding, with the system of social control leaning more and more on the external and formal controlling mechanisms provided by the State such as law, police, court, prison etc.
The new global culture is a transitory culture emerging with the development of modern industrial system and information technology. We call it ‘western culture’ only because the industrial system started in the western countries. But even western societies today are facing social problems under this transitory culture. Today, the world becomes one ‘mental-place’ like a newly discovered land. People of all races do not need a physical migration to this new found land; but mental migrations are now taking place incessantly to the attraction of this brave new world. Whether this trend is for better or for worse, only the future can tell.