SHILLONG: The executive committee of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council will meet on Monday to take a decision on recalling the KHAD (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (First and Second Amendment) Bills.
The council’s chief executive member, Hispreachering Son Shylla, said “there is a need to recall the two amendment bills” for deleting some of the sections since they have recently inserted a new section.
The first amendment was introduced in 2015 and the second in July this year.
The second bill is not clear on whether an offspring of a Khasi woman and non-Khasi man will lose kinship to their respective Clan Dorbar Kur, which then needs an act of denotification (Tait Kur).
Also, the first amendment lays down a few rules for an offspring of a mixed marriage to be considered as Khasi. Among the criteria are knowledge of the local language and following the matrilineal system.
Shylla said the section that states that the offspring of a Khasi woman and a non-Khasi man will be considered as Khasi needs to be deleted.
After the existing Section 3 (c), a new sub-section 3 (d) was inserted which states, “Any Khasi woman who marries a non-Khasi as well as her offspring(s) born out of such marriage(s) shall be deemed as non-Khasi who shall lose the Khasi status and all the privileges and benefits as a member of the Khasi tribe who cannot claim preferential privileges under any law.” The executive committee will also discuss the clause mentioning a “meager penalty” for false claimants of Khasi status.
The clause says, “Whoever commits an offence under this section shall, on conviction by a Magistrate, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both for the first offence and to double the above punishment for every subsequent offence.”
Local women’s groups had questioned the contradictions and have been vehemently demanding revoking the new amendment.
Shylla said there is no official communication from the state government on the status of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Second amendment) Bill, 2018.
“There are strong possibilities that the government would return the bill to the council,” he added.
Shylla met his JHADC counterpart Madonbai Rymbai on Friday to deliberate on this issue and there are possibilities that even JHADC might come with a similar bill.
