The blind spot in the Lineage Bill

 Editor,

As I see it, there is one very significant loophole in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018 which  should it be passed, will have a boomerang effect that will in fact expedite the extinction of the entire Khasi society in the next five or ten decades if not earlier.

We can do a simple math. In case a Khasi woman marries a non-Khasi, then, her offspring automatically are regarded as non-Khasi. As a layperson, I think that there is no permissible law in our country by which a mother can be prevented from distributing property to her own children. Therefore the landed property that the mother distributes to her children will automatically fall under non-Khasi category and hence fall outside the purview of the Land Transfer Act. Hence, gradually but surely, with the multiplication of such lands converted to non-tribal areas, it will cause the entire Khasi state to fall outside the purview of the Land Transfer Act, and the outcome of which will therefore prove to be more devastating than the outcome of any other Act that has ever been passed by the Council thus far. Hence  the amendment Bill to the Lineage Act will then prove to have been the most stupid move the KHADC has ever made and which will be impossible to reverse as it has checkmated itself. Now, as a layperson, I may be wrong, but, in case I understood the Bill correctly, I may be right.

 Yours etc.,

Mankular Lamin Gashnga

Shillong – 3

On Khasi Lineage Bill

Editor,

I have been following the debates on the controversial Khasi Lineage Bill as telecast in the electronic media of Assam recently and I have the following issues to discuss on the Bill

1. At the outset those who were for the Bill did not have any points to substantiate, only to state that the Bill protects the identity of the Khasis. I wonder why and in what way this Bill protects the Khasis. On the contrary I understand that the Bill will further divide the Khasis into two groups, the pure blooded Khasis and mixed blooded ones.
2. The said Bill was passed by a group of 30 people in haste, to please certain irrational and chauvinistic group of people.
3. If the KHADC has to pass the Bill with good intention it should have taken steps to organize debates and consult various groups and individuals on the matter before moving the said Bill in the KHADC.
4. The Bill intends to divide the Khasi community down the middle instead of uniting this small tribal community with a meager population.
5. The Khasi Lineage Bill violates the rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution of India and brushes aside the lives and emotions of Khasi society especially of the weaker sections of the society. Therefore those MDCs who are involved in passing such a nasty Khasi Lineage Bill should be voted out and rejected in the next MDC elections, 2019.

Yours etc.,

Bandon L Lyngdoh,

Shillong-1

Draconian Lineage Bill

Editor,

We have been terming certain laws like the TADA, the AFSPA, MPDA, etc. as draconian laws. At present our own KHADC which is supposed to protect the interests of our own people is passing a Bill which is detrimental to their lives and their future. The controversial Khasi Lineage Bill deserves a hash-tag #Draconian#. I may be allowed to enumerate some reasons why this Bill should be quashed.

The said Bill was passed in haste, to please certain individuals/ groups of narrow minded and vindictive people. Before moving such a sensitive issue in the KHADC, the document should have been displayed in the public domain and views and comments should have been invited from all stakeholders followed by wide consultations throughout the state.

No other District Councils in the State have moved such Bill, hence this Bill will further divide the Khasis from the Jaintias and the Garo communities. The intention of the Bill is to distinguish the pure Khasi from the half-breed Khasi.

If, touch wood, this draconian Bill is enacted, many MLAs, MDCs will have to be disqualified and also a number of leaders of pressure groups will have to vacate their posts as they are sons and daughters of non-Khasis.

The Jaintia Hills District Council whose members are wiser and more enlightened than the MDCs of the KHADC have not even dreamt of moving such foolish legislation. Hence, the Jaintias like the Shylla, Rymbai, Passah etc. clans who live in Khasi Hills will claim exemption from the Bill on grounds that they are not natives of Khasi Hills where the writ of the KHADC runs. Then there will be confusion in deciding who should lose the ST status and who should not. Likewise, the Khasis who live outside the jurisdiction of the KHADC will also take advantage of the confusion as this Bill will not take effect there. In the course of the confusion more and more inter marriages will take place and the ultimate beneficiaries will be those who take undue advantage of the situation.

It is a fact that the institution of marriage is sacred, a Human Right and it requires no interference from any angle. Hence, the Khasi Lineage Bill violates the rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution of India. The Khasi Lineage Bill in its present form also violates the Fundamental Rights. Hence, since the instant Bill is illegal, against the law of the land, we request the Hon’ble Governor and the State Government to set it aside and refrain from approving the Bill.

Yours etc.,

Kerland Wahlang

Shillong -2