By HH Mohrmen
The Bill to amend the Khasi Social Custom lineage Act (1997) passed by the KHADC has only brought to light the realities of the Khasi society (or at least the political class) of the society as being nothing but a bunch of male chauvinistic group. The Bill which denies a woman who marries a non Khasi-Pnar and her offsprings the right to be a Khasi while allowing the tradition of Tangjait for men to continue is the height of hypocrisy. More seriously it will also create a schism in the tribe where none existed before.
The question is how different is the Khasi matrilineal system from other patriarchal societies when it is alright for men to marry outside the tribe while it is not for women? The other pertinent question is also why the tradition is silent on women marrying outside their tribe? Or why is there no tradition like Tangjait for women if they enter into wedlock with men from outside the tribe? Tangjait is a tradition which allows tribal men to marry a nontribal woman and it not only sanctifies their marriage but also accommodates the new family and recognises it as a new Khasi clan.
One thing is certain – if men can intermarry with women from other communities then women too would do so, because Khasi society does not keep its women inside the house. From time immemorial Khasis have interacted and had trade relationships with other communities (particularly in the border) and with an open society like ours intermarriages on both sides and sexes happen. So if it is not uncommon for women to marry outside why is there is no ritual like Tangjait for women too? The answer is simple. It is ecause no matter whichever male the Khasi women marries she remains a Khasi. There is no need to perform any rituals because lineage will always be through the mother.
The grand purpose of every tribe is to increase its population and domination and while Khasi women marrying a non-Khasi-Pnar will help expand the tribe because the offspring will automatically take the mother’s lineage, every Tangjait will add a new clan to help increase the population of the tribe. This is genius at work because it not only helps increase the population of the tribe but it also helps to enrich the gene pool of the community.
It may be mentioned that Tangjait is a tradition followed by the Khasis only. The Pnars (Jaintias) and the Bhois have no such tradition. And it cannot be true that Pnar men and women do not intermarry with other tribes or communities because there is already an inter-racial marriage in the royal family. The Jaintia royal family entered into matrimony with non tribal royal families. The last one was with the Tripuri royal family. This also explains why the royal family and some Pnars in Nartiang and Jaintiapur also follow certain aspects of Hinduism.
One unique aspect of the Khasi-Pnar tradition is the concept of Tingkur, (to be connected by lineage)common amongst the Pnar and Khasis too. So one clan is related to three other clans! Some of the Pnar clan also Ting kur with clans from the Karbi community. This is prevalent especially amongst those who live in the Assam- Meghalaya border. The relationship between the Pnars and the other tribes transcends borders and all inter-tribal distinction that we may have.
Then there is also a question of the Iawbei and Thawlang of the clan. As far as I know the Iawbei of the Iawchibidi clan to which the Laloo, the Lamin, the Diengdoh and the Marngar belong came from Raid Iapngar and the folk narrative says that Iapngar which is now in Assam was ruled by a Hadem king then. Whether Iawchibidi is a Hadem or not is a million dollar question but one thing is true. Till date people in Jowai still call those from the kur Laloo clan as “ki Laloo Bhoi.” The inference is very clear that it is not because their Iawbei migrated from raid Iapngar to the hills of Khasi and Jaintia but because they are Bhois which we now call Karbis.
The Pnars knows about the Bhois because they have a very close interaction with them and in the Pnar parlance. They also talk about the Hadems who presumably are the Biates. But there is another group the Pnar call the Hadem and they are the Hadem of Saitsama village. The Hadem of Saitsama though similar are not Hmars because they have migrated to Jaintia Hills much earlier while the Hmars came later and lived in Khaddum and some at Tongseng village.
There are intermarriages between the Biates and the Pnars in Nongkhlieh and Saipung in spite of the fact that the Biates follow a different culture and speak a language akin to Mizo. The current MDC from the Saipung area is a product of a Biate-Pnar intermarriage.
Therefore the JHADC cannot bring a Bill similar to the one that KHADC did because apart from the Pnars and Wars who speak the Austro-Asiatic language and also share the same culture, language and tradition with the Khasis, there are the Biates, the Hmars and the Hadem in Saitsama who belong to a different tribe and practise patriarchy.
The Pnars and the Hadems of Saitsama who have lived together for centuries are unique in that although they follow a different lineage system which is matrilineal and patriarchal, do intermarry and they see no problem in that. One may ask how the two communities following divergent customs decide whether the children will take the mother’s or the father’s clan name. The answer is that it is always amicably decided by the parents. It’s as simple as that.
The other pertinent question is – what or who is a Khasi according to this Bill? Does it mean that to be a genuine Khasi you only need to have both of your parents from the same tribe and the rest is insignificant? It does not matter if the person does not speak the local language or follow the culture but as long as both his parents are from the same tribe, he is qualified to be a Khasi. And on the other hand, it does not matter if the children follow every bit of the Khasi culture and speak the local language but the mere fact that their father is not a Khasi, they cannot claim to be a Khasi!
If being a genuine Khasi is based on the mere fact that true Khasi blood flows in his veins then the next question is – how certain are we that hundred percent Khasi blood flows through our veins? How many Khasis have done DNA tests to prove that they are hundred percent pure Khasi by blood? How many Khasis can claim that their ancestor have never had intermarriages?
This Bill will create more complications where there were none before, like what will happen if the son of Khasi woman and non- Khasi man then marries a Khasi woman? What will the tribe of the kids born from that wedlock be? If there is anything that this Bill has achieved is to divide the jaidbynriew; now there will be a class amongst the Khasis, the pure Khasi (Khasi paka) bad the not so pure one (ba lah khleh) H.S. Shylla has created history by creating a schism where none existed.
This Bill also contradicts the manner in which the traditional and other faith groups understand marriage. According to the Pnar tradition marriages like any other thing in life is one’s fate or destiny and we have a saying (jar jiar la ka slabhah da booh da bynta) which means that it is pre-ordained. It also contradicts the Church’s teaching that woman was created from the ribs of a man (Genesis) and that marriages are made in heaven. Sadly the Bill has also turned what Mark beautifully said in his gospel “Therefore what God has joined together let no one separate” (10:9) upside down.
There is also this flimsy argument that since a Khasi woman married a man from a forward community, she and her offspring cannot claim Scheduled Tribe status. The question that comes to mind whether the KHADC wants to hinder progress and keep us from moving forward with the rest of the world? Does it mean that the objectives of the ADCs is to continue to keep us backward lest the Institution itself becomes obsolete and irrelevant.
This Bill therefore contravenes tradition which it is expected to protect. It divides the jaidbynriew and uses women as soft targets.