It was recently announced by the recently appointed CEM of the Khasi Hills District Council, Pyniaid Syiem that two women will be included in the executive committee of the Dorbar Shnong. This is at best tokenism and Khasi women should not be pleased with these carrots being dangled before them, nor should they readily accept the patronage of being “included” in the executive committee of the Dorbar. Khasi women are quite capable of heading a Dorbar Shnong if need be. This is not a position cast in stone. This arrangement is attributed to an oral tradition that was touted at a time when the male was considered one that possesses twelve times the strength of a woman. All this is now debunked by science. Intellect and the ability to govern is not a purely male attribute. In all other spheres of governance especially in the bureaucracy women are excelling. They are occupying leadership positions as technocrats and medical practitioners. Are they any less than the Khasi male in the way they discharge their duties? No, they aren’t!
Meghalaya has had women ministers who have done well and discharged their responsibilities in the same capacity as men. But whether Khasi society accepts this or doesn’t, the fact remains that this is a society that discriminates on the basis of gender. And the alibi trotted out is that women already carry the lineage and that is a great favour bestowed by the ancestors on women. The reality is that this is an overstated privilege. How does lineage matter when a woman is abandoned after she has given birth to a child or more children and is left to fend for them and for herself? These women are today seen plying their wares as vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables to second hand clothes and what have you just to keep body and soul together. That the state has not done enough research on the plight of such women is also because women’s voices in the Assembly are muted on these issues or because those who do get elected come from the upper strata of society and do not understand the pain and agony of a large section of poor and downtrodden women.
The Dorbar Shnong is the first court of appeal in Khasi society. If the Dorbar Shnong is male-centric and does not have the gender perspective that is needed to understand the travails of a Khasi woman then it is futile to expect that Dorbar to address women-centric issues such as their reproductive rights and health. The Dorbars have created the Seng Kynthei (women’s wing) which is like an accessory, in their attempt to make the Dorbar appear gender sensitive and equitable. But it does not address the constitutional rights of women to hold office in the Dorbar including that of heading it. The Sixth Schedule and tradition are subservient to the Constitution. This cannot be lost sight of!
