By Barnes Mawrie
Presently a lot of points and counterpoints are being exchanged among people regarding the amendments made to the Khasi Social Custom of Lineage Act (second amendment) passed by KHADC. It looks like KHADC has stirred up the hornet’s nest and if differences are not sorted out, they are bound to create a lot of chaos in the Khasi society. I have some personal points of view on the issue.
First of all, I see this Act as a kind of corrective effort on the part of KHADC which is the legal body entrusted with the welfare of the Khasi community. In fact, everyone will agree with the CEM that there has been a lot of manipulation and exploitation of Khasi women by non-Khasis who often marry them for ulterior motives. Many times Khasi women are being used as licenses for acquiring tribal land or for business enterprises in the State. Such motives are definitely malicious and ought to be nipped in the bud. In fact, this phenomenon in Khasi society has proven to be a great threat not only to the integrity of our people but even to ancestral land and property. It is a fact that many non-Khasis have succeeded to penetrate into our society and even grabbed away our rice bowl through inter-racial marriages of convenience. In my opinion, this law will certainly put a brake to the acceleration of this socio-cultural phenomenon which is absolutely detrimental to our community.
Secondly, I do not however subscribe to the approach that KHADC has adopted in trying to correct the imbalances. The Act is too much of a general approach to the problem that demands a particular attention. We can never solve a problem by simply enacting a general law. First of all, KHADC needs to understand that the practices of “ringkpa” and “ringkongor” (whereby a Khasi woman falls in love and desires to marry a non Khasi man), has been in currency for centuries. Therefore there is nothing illegal or strange about it. However, as the old practice used to be, it is understood that a non-Khasi man who married a Khasi woman would himself become integrated into the Khasi community and consequently being a matrilineal society, his off-springs would take the mother’s clan name or kur. It is significant that in such marriages, the non-Khasi groom would himself be dressed up in Khasi traditional attires by the uncle of the bride and would be traditionally welcomed into the family. But as of today, such a tradition has almost disappeared and inter-racial marriages today have become almost casual and not traditional. The absence of the kñi’s authority today is what has led to this sort of chaos in Khasi society. Unlike in the olden days when the kñi had full control over the marriages of his nephews and nieces, today the kñi does not even know what sort of spouses his nephews and nieces bring home. Yet it would be unjust to implement this law without due qualifications.
In my opinion based on our tradition, if a Khasi woman marries a non-Khasi man, she does not lose her tribal status per se. And until and unless she chooses to adopt her husband’s culture and tradition, no law can justify a deprivation of her Khasi status. For this reason, this law would perfectly apply to those Khasi women who have voluntarily chosen to adopt their husband’s culture. This law would also be quite appropriate in those cases where children of a non-Khasi father and a Khasi mother, although while retaining lineage from the mother’s kur, are not able to speak Khasi or are ignorant about Khasi culture (such cases are frequent in urban areas where children of such inter-racial marriages are encouraged to speak only English at home and as a consequence they are incapable of speaking Khasi. Personally I have come across many such cases). In the case of those inter-racial marriages where there is an explicit agreement that the family retains the Khasi culture and tradition and the children are well versed in Khasi language and culture, this particular law would be totally unjust and uncalled for.
On the plan of KHADC to abolish “tangkur,” I would strongly disapprove of such a move. Tangkur is an age-old practice which has gained universal acceptance in Khasi society. Let us not forget that more than half the Khasi clans have emerged from the practice of tangkur. If the law would be retroactive then it would mean that more than 60% of Khasi population would be lost and if it not (as KHADC has asserted) then it would be totally unjust and partial towards the coming generations. In the case of tangkur, it is a new clan that is being created. History has shown that tangkur has always been a positive step in the growth and development of the Khasi race. If the Khasi race has grown rapidly in population, thanks be to the practice of tangkur. KHADC would commit the greatest blunder to abolish such an ancient cultural practice.
The new law has and will have serious repercussions on Khasi society both now and in the future, therefore it would be better if more reflection and evaluation is done before it is enacted.