By Toki Blah
This is with reference to the news item “Referendum on women’s entry into durbar likely,” that appeared on the front page of the Shillong Times of April 14, 2022. The report goes to say that ‘the KHADC has submitted before the High Court of Meghalaya that the matter pertaining to the right of women to seek election and also participate in the election process for choosing Rangbah Shnong is under the active consideration of the Council and it is likely a referendum may be called on the issue’. Now this stand of the KHADC is highly intriguing and one would like to go deeper into the ramifications it would have or not have.
Firstly the KHADC’s entitlement to call for a referendum is not the issue. The issue instead is the capability and competence, both financial and human resource wise, of KHADC to conduct such a mammoth exercise equivalent perhaps to a state general election. Then let’s suppose only 30% of the people turn up for this referendum and the result is a 60% negative vote and 40% positive vote for participation of women. Will this be sufficient to call the referendum a success? Secondly how legally valid are the results of such a referendum to bring about KHADC Legislature on the matter? The referendum seeks to either disfranchise or enfranchise Khasi women as members of the electorate participating in voting for the office of the Rangbah Shnong. Here we enter dicey waters. If the results turn up even with a resounding vote for disenfranchising, can the KHADC use this result to come up with a law that prohibits women from participating in Dorbar Shnong elections? Provisions of the Indian Constitution on voting rights of women comes up with a Big No. Such a law by KHADC will be ultra vires to Art 15 (Right to Equality) read with Art 325, Part XV (Elections) of the Constitution. Both are quite clear and without any ambiguity on the electoral rights of the citizens of India. No one can be barred from exercising their Constitutional Rights simply on the question gender.
Now on the other hand if the results come up with a positive result on inclusion of women in these grassroots elections, then such results simply enforce what has already been provided for in the Constitution. The results will therefore be meaningless as either way, they lead to nowhere. Hence the referendum, whatever its results may be, will simply be an exercise in futility involving waste of time and huge expenses of public money on an issue which has already been provided for in the Constitution of India. The ADCs legislate on laws provided for in the 6th Schedule. Any Act of the District Council cannot subvert provisions of the Constitution and to claim that customary and tradition practices take precedence over provisions of the Constitution is absurd. Any Act passed in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution will be considered null and void by the law of the land.
In conclusion one is obligated to remind ourselves that the 6th Schedule and the resulting Institution that come with it, ie the Autonomous District Councils, were created to protect the interest and identity of indigenous hill people like the Khasis. This protection can only come about when laws are framed to empower the people, both men and women. The job of the KHADC in this respect is to enact laws that aim at promoting, not to curb, this self empowerment process in our society. Our grassroot governing institutions, the Dorbar Shnong, in the 21st Century need an inclusive and democratic participatory governance system to make it relevant to the requirements of the day.
Seeing the sense of vision the Constitution has on this score, it would be tragic if the KHADC were to revert back to regressive regulations whose sole aim is to curtail the advancement of our women in both the political and social spheres. Please don’t fall into the trap set by some misguided men with a patriarchal mindset, who propagate the view that empowerment of Khasi women is the root cause of the ailments that plague Khasi society today. Such people advocate erasure of our matrilineal system and further subjugation and suppression of Khasi women’s rights. These are a sorry bunch of losers who have achieved nothing in life but love to wallow in their own self pity! Please pass a legislation that will further empower our women, both socially and politically, and then leave the implementation of the same to the wisdom of the respective Dorbars.
The Constitution has already given the nudge, now it is the job of the District Council to take it forward to its logical end. Let it not be a gift of pearls thrown before swine.
(The author is President ICARE)