By Nabamita Mitra &
Olivia Lyngdoh Mawlong
A Khasi woman will cease to be a Khasi and lose all benefits of a scheduled tribe if she marries outside the tribe, says a new amendment in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) Act, 1997, proposed by the KHADC recently. The aim is to protect the tribe from non-tribal invasion.
“Let us not talk about what happened in the past. Now, we have to protect our children,” is what KHADC chief HS Shylla has to say in defence of the amendment bill.
However, this complete rejection of the past, the history, has not gone down well with many citizens, both men and women, who feel the bill is nothing but a diktat. Many have also questioned the political intention behind it. But above all, the timing of the bill has surprised many. After decades of mixed marriages, not only with non-tribals but also non-Indians, is it wise to talk about such a bill in the name of jaitbynriew?
Meghalaya is a matrilineal society where the property of parents goes to the youngest daughter, a practice that is “not only unique in the country but also in the world”. But this uniqueness has boomeranged on the tribe with many “outsiders” taking advantage of the custom and marrying Khasi women only to grab land. This is the reason why many advocates of the bill, young and old alike, strongly believe that it is the need of the hour to stop Khasi women from marrying a non-tribal.
“I fully support this bill which will safeguard the intangible culture of our tribe. Interracial marriage will endanger our language and cultural knowledge, there will be a shift in language and custom and the purity of our race will vanish,” says Thomas Mawthoh, a local youth.
“If the bill is not approved, we cannot force our daughters to have an arranged marriage within our Khasi tribe and that is not the way our forefathers have taught us. So the only alternative would be to keep on fighting in a democratic way,” Mawthoh adds.
How much the KHADC is concerned about safeguarding the sanctity of Khasi culture and tradition is doubtful as there are many things which need to be done first to preserve the language and the culture. (For instance, there is no vernacular school, especially in rural areas and nobody feels the need to have one).
So the main intention is to safeguard land, the most precious of all possessions. This is also the reason why the “diktat” is on women and not men. But there are already two laws to protect tribal land — the Benami Transactions Prohibition Act and the Meghalaya Transfer of Land (Regulation) Act, 1971 — which need to be implemented in letter and spirit. Agnes Kharshiing, the CSWO president who is among those opposing the bill, says had these acts been implemented properly much could have been achieved.
“Besides, the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) Act, 1997, itself is strong enough and should first be implemented properly,” she says.
But KSU general secretary Donald Thabah has a different take on it. He says when the husband is a non-tribal, property is transferred in the name of the Khasi wife and so the two laws cannot protect land. “So the bill will help in arresting such cases of land transfer through women,” he adds.
However, Thabah maintains that the amendment bill is still in the nascent stage and there should not be any fiasco over it at this moment. “Let the rules be laid out properly and then we will take a stand.”
‘Hasty’ affair
Most of the people that Sunday Shillong spoke to, including those who believe there is a need to protect the tribe, feel that the KHADC has done a hasty work and there is a need for long discussions and deliberations to fine tune it. Dr W Kharshiing, a concerned citizen, says all stakeholders, including politicians, should come together for brainstorming over the bill.
Kharshiing says mixed marriages are going on for a long time now and it is difficult to suddenly stop it. “Some people are taking advantage of the Khasi tradition for their own benefits. So I feel the bill will help. But the amendment bill in its current form has been done in a hurry and the government, if wise enough, should sit down and discuss it. In fact, if land transfer advantage can be blocked by other means, there is no need for the bill,” he adds.
The bill that was sent to the governor for his assent has been forwarded to the government for suggestions.
The amendment, though has a “good intention” (say many), is regressive and radiates improbity. In an age where the world is turning into a ‘glocal’ village it is imprudent to suggest such a bill and is akin to the RSS zealots saying they want a Hindu state. With the standard of education deteriorating in the state and absolutely no employment opportunities, youngsters have to move out of the comfort zone of Khasi tradition to a competitive world. Intermingling is inevitable.
Shylla clarifies that the bill does not put restriction on one’s choice of partner but the choice comes with clauses.
“To disown a woman from her own kind, to flush her blood out from her source of existence because of her choice to live differently is not only pathetically absurd and dangerous but it is the beginning of death, and not life, for any group. True, the abuse of matriliny and the institution of ka khatduh is painful and glaring. But can we not separate economics from cultural identity? I empathise with the concern, it’s real… boundaries have to be there for survival but the cultural death sentence of a part of one’s own body (male or female) without compassion will end up with the slow dying of the self,” says a young citizen on condition of anonymity.
Father Romeus Majaw, an educationist, believes that though the KHADC’s concern is genuine, to say that a woman will lose her ST status is wrong and “will make divisions in the family”.
“The authorities should find some other way to stop property takeover by outsiders,” he suggests.
Dhei Jana, the 80-year-old grandmother from Lawsohtun, rejects the amendment saying there is no logic in saying if one marries a non-Khasi, she becomes “less Khasi”.
“I married a non-tribal man decades ago. Then there was no ruckus over it as it is now. Also, I never gave up my Khasi tradition and never followed any custom other than that of the Khasis. My children are all grown up and married to Khasis. So does the authority mean that we are less Khasis,” she says as she rues about the changing times and mindset of people.
“Those who married non-tribals all these years have used Khasi surnames. Can they change everything now,” asks 30-year-old Badahunlang Jana, who runs a grocery shop in the city. However, she says she supports the bill to some extent but will wait for the final rules before forming an opinion.
CSWO’s Kharshiing asserts the bill is flawed and the KHADC knows it very well. “Also, there is contradiction with the first amendment.”
Ignoring other issues
With the amendment bill, many citizens feel that the authorities are ignoring some of the important issues, including those related to women.
A 30-year-old single mother of five children, who lives on the outskirts of the city, says on condition of anonymity that despite living in a matrilineal society, women have been suppressed. Her Khasi husband, a drunkard, abandoned the family two years ago and the woman has no land. “Only a single mother like me will know how difficult it is to support a family. I married a Khasi and this is what I face. Nobody in power care for people like us,” she says.
Her story is common in Khasi Hills. Many downtrodden women whom Sunday Shillong spoke to had Khasi husbands who either were drunkards or left for another woman. Asked what steps KHADC is taking to protect these women as well as the sanctity of family, Shylla says all these issues will be taken up. “I had proposed a bill and it is with the government.”
In this regard, Thabah says the compulsory registration of marriage has been a long-pending demand and “we will approach the government again on that”.
The convener of Maitshaphrang, Michael N Syiem, has recently petitioned the chief minister for immediate implementation of the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act, 2012.
Landlessness is another issue that remains unaddressed. Poor and illiterate villagers are often cheated into selling land at throwaway prices by local land sharks and they often become victims of private money lending. Are their leaders helping them or facilitating the crooks?
Pyniaid Syiem, a member of the KHADC executive committee, says it is a crucial issue but he tries to alleviate the problem in his constituency, Sohryngkham.
“The land is held by the community there and anyone, male or female, who gets married, has to petition the headman who in turn allots plots. I try to ensure that the headmen do not show partiality while dividing land and treat the poor and the rich equally,” he adds.
An important issue that is afflicting the society is sexual harassment. The rising cases of rapes, where most of the perpetrators are from the family, have maligned the so-called matrilineal structure of the Khasi society. But other than murmurs, no strong voice from the authority was heard so far. Shylla has a solution to this too. He says that the KHADC will issue a notice to dorbars to ensure that all men in their respective localities take the pledge of not committing such heinous act.
A pledge not to rape or molest? If this is for real, then one can gauge the authorities’ sincerity in protecting the women.
“For a bill in this regard, we have to have a discussion with executive members and other MDCs,” Shylla asserts.
Influx of illegal immigrants is another raging issue in the state. A working woman in the city says while mixed marriages can be discouraged “without affecting the community”, the authorities can focus on stopping influx and take genuine measures for that “instead of going after the women”.
“I would like KHADC to take up important issues such as the problems of single mothers. I am not opposed to equality in distribution of property between sons and daughters. Also, can we get some answers on the Them Metor issue,” asks A Nongkhlaw, a woman in her thirties.
A set of questions on these issues was sent to one of the conveners of STIEH (Saiñdur, Tipkur Tipkha, Ieng, Ehrngiew, Khun Hynñiewtrep), a pro-bill women’s group, but the members did not want to reply.
‘Tang jait’
Many men like Sandy Kharbangar, an entrepreneur, feels the bill, if becomes law, will not only empower Khasi men but also the race.
But women feel it is tilted towards men. Nongkhlaw says she is disappointed with the unfairness of the lineage bill. “Khasi is a matrilineal society. To say that a Khasi woman who marries a non-Khasi man will lose her ST status, is a biased view when Khasi men can marry a non-Khasi and retain not only his ST status but can also give the same to his wife and offspring. This is absolutely incomprehensible,” she adds.
“Mothers with male children encourage them to marry non-Khasi for jait,” observes a senior citizen. Shylla says he will speak to other members of the council as “this should also stop”.
But by putting restrictions on all these practices, aren’t we blocking our way to expand the tribe? Father Majaw has a suggestion, “What if we can do a similar ritual for men too? That way, we will only incorporate more people into the tribe.”
That indeed sounds a wiser way to expand the community. But so far no one has discussed the issue.
Tribe must grow
Shylla has another innovative suggestion for expanding the tribe. He says he wants to re-implement an old proposal of his where all Khasi women have to produce not less than 15 children. “It should continue till we become 4 million.”
Well, to achieve the target of 15 children, a woman has to get married as early as 16, which is illegal. But child marriages are rampant in Khasi Hills and perhaps the district council purposely overlooks the problem, though Shylla promises to stop it with help from NGOs.
“Quality and not quantity matters,” rightly points out KSU’s Thabah.
In the race for increasing Khasi population, the authorities should not forget about other related issues like poverty, unemployment, dropouts and crime.
When the country is talking about women empowerment, a matrilineal society is resolving to snatch away the power and respect from them. Instead of amending draconian laws and giving more power to women to vote and be equal part in traditional bodies like Dorbar Shnong, the authorities are only walking backwards. Is this an influence of the bigger social change that is palpable across the country post-BJP government? If that is the case, then where are the intellectuals and prominent citizens with sensibility whose voices matter? Or is it also part of the tradition to accept whatever comes their way, right or wrong?
(With inputs from Willie G Suting)
