SHILLONG: The pending first amendment bill on Khasi lineage bill initiated by former CEM Ardent Basaiawmoit and the protests by women against the second amendment bill have made it difficult for Governor Ganga Prasad to take a decision on the matter.
Former deputy chief minister Bindo Lanong welcomed the intent of the current second amendment bill of the KHADC on the Khasi Social Custom of Lineage Act, 1997, which was first debated and prepared by the members of the advisory committee in 1997 when late Bakstar Wanniang was the CEM.
However, Lanong said when the amendment bill was recently sent to the governor for assent, it was returned to the government for further examination due to varied reasons.
Lanong said on careful examination, it was found that the current bill of Shylla purportedly serialised as the second amendment bill 2018, poses a technical question as the first amendment Bill of Basaiawmoit, proposed to amend some sections of the same act in 2015, has not been assented to yet.
When the first amendment is pending, the attempt to supersede the first by another amendment bill on the same act does create a serious judicial miscarriage, which will create serious complications to the act, Lanong said.
According to Lanong, another reason for which the governor is in a Catch-22 situation is due to the many petitions from several quarters, particularly the womens’ groups who strongly opposed the proposed amendment, pertaining to the newly inserted clause of mixed marriage by a Khasi woman to a non-tribal husband, which contemplates to disentitle a woman and her children born of such wedlock, from all the privileges and benefits, including the status of a Khasi tribe.
This, according to women activists, discriminates against women whereas a man on the other hand is free to marry a non-Khasi and after conversion, the wife and children are eligible to enjoy all privileges as Khasis.
“Whenever a question of discrimination arises, the judiciary is extra sensitive because it comes into direct conflict with Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which is a fundamental provision of equality before law and which the governor is fully aware of,” Lanong said.
He said the second amendment bill necessitates intra-amendments over other amendments. “This will allow the think tank of the community to interact in depth on many inter-related issues,” he added.
