By H H Mohrmen
The debate on what makes a genuine or true Khasi has resurfaced, thanks to the intervention from the Department of Social Welfare headed by Paul Lyngdoh. The million-dollar questions are: Who is a real or genuine Khasi? How do we define a real Khasi? Who has the authority to decide who is a real Khasi? Or what is the essence of the jaidbynriew?
The MDA government is eating its own words
A report carried by The Shillong Times on May 3, stated that the Social Welfare Department has revoked the administrative order issued on July 21, 2020, which permitted the issuance of Scheduled Tribe certificates to applicants adopting either the father’s or mother’s surname and to non-Khasi female applicants who wish to adopt their husband’s surname after marriage. The report stated that the decision was made because of the conflict of the order with the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) Act, 1997.
The minister in charge said that the order issued at the level of the department’s under-secretary was not necessary as the Lineage Act of 1997 “does not prohibit the issuance of ST certificates to the applicant adopting surnames of either the father or mother, and the practice of adopting husband’s surnames by non-Khasi wives was also allowed.” Paul further said that since the KHADC had passed the Bill on lineage and it had the Governor’s assent; it had the (desired) power.” Lyngdoh also said that it was necessary to withdraw the order because no officer of the state government can issue such an order. Lyngdoh mentioned that guidelines for issuing SC/ST certificates through an office memorandum dated March 19, 2014, issued by the Social Welfare Department, were amended by incorporating a “Tribe certificate from the competent authority for areas under KHADC jurisdiction” in the guidelines.
The minister even lambasted the officer who issued the order by terming it as a “basic lack of knowledge and non-application of mind on the part of the officer. It was a misinterpretation of not only the laws but an abuse of power by the officer who issued this order,” Paul made it sound like the officer made the order on his/her own whims and fancy and not at the behest of the MDA government. But the question is, can the officer issue the order without the advice of the political leader? The minister is obviously playing a blame game, which further shows the lack of wisdom in the MDA government, which had to revoke its own order in less than four years.
The state government is Shillong-centric
The issue has also brought to light the true nature of the government, that it is only concerned with what happens in Shillong. The saying that if it happens in Shillong, it will catch the attention of the government rings true. This time, the issue got much attention because it concerns only the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council. Why is the minister referring to the Scheduled Tribe issue related to the KHADC only? What about the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council? Are they not part of Meghalaya? How will they define who is a genuine Jaintia or a legitimate Garo? Who amongst the Jaintia or the Garo can avail Scheduled Tribe certificates? The minister is silent on the issues related to the two other ADCs. Is this Government only concerned with what happens in the State capital and forgets anything beyond it? Or is it true that the issue was brought to light because somebody is expecting to gain some brownie points from withdrawing the order?
Is Khasi identity defined by lineage only?
In 1989 and 1990, I was a student at the Unitarian College, Manchester, which is part of the Northern Federation for the training of ministers in Manchester. It is a conglomeration of institutions where ministerial students of the Baptist, the United Reform Church, the Methodist, and the Unitarian Church were trained. A Baptist student minister, who was doing her PhD, asked me, “How did your society, which follows matrilineal or matriarchal tradition, react to Christianity, which was founded and continues to patronize patriarchal traditions?” I had never thought of that question and was not able to answer her. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I realize it was indeed a very profound question. I would rather reframe the question to, “What makes the Khasi lineage system survive the test of time despite being surrounded by patriarchal systems all around?”
The Khynriam and the Pnar must have interacted with the plains people in the past and later, and despite being ruled by the British, were able to maintain their culture and tradition. Even when a large section of the population converted to Christianity, which is a male-oriented tradition, they were able to keep their unique lineage system intact. They took the Bible and accepted Jesus but rejected the patriarchy in the book and teachings for almost two hundred years now.
The lineage through the mother has survived the test of time and it is what makes the tribe unique and stand out amidst others but is that all?
What about the other attributes?
The other pertinent question is can we define the tribe merely on lineage? What about language? What if a person takes the lineage from the mother but cannot speak any of the Hynñew Trep languages? Can we still consider them Khasi? What about culture and tradition? What if a person takes their lineage from the mother, speaks the language, but does not follow the culture and traditions of the tribe? And the most critical question is, what do we mean by culture? Does it mean following the three cardinal principles: “tip kur, tip kha, tip briew, tip blei,” kamai ia ka hok? Does it also mean keeping “ka bhalang u ba bun balang, or ka bhalang ka imlang sahlang” striving for the common good or well-being of all as a paramount goal of everybody in the community? What about “ka tip hok, ka tip sot, ka shikyntien ka hok, u thylliej ksiar thylliej rupa,” which emphasizes doing the right thing and speaking the truth in one’s daily life? Are these not important attributes of being a Khasi?
If we define a Khynriam or a Pnar by tradition, then one need not only follow the lineage system but also follow the traditions. There is also an argument that only those who follow the traditional niam Khasi (niam meaning religion) are genuine Khynriam or Pnar. Those who have converted to other religions are not considered authentic Khasi anymore. If this argument gains ground, one could say that Bah Paul is responsible for taking the community on a slippery track.
In some ways, this is also a codification of customary laws and practices. The question is, can we really codify customary practices? Is culture static and not dynamic? In fact, if the family system is codified, one would need to live in a joint family, not a nuclear family, because that is how our ancestors lived.
The patrilineal Khasis
I don’t buy the argument that the matrilineal system does not serve us well and is not good for society. I believe every system has its own pros and cons that we sometimes overlook and generalize. Now, there is also a sizable population of the Jaidbynriew who already follow the patrilineal system, and this is going to complicate things. I was in the Saipung area a few days back, and when I asked a friend how he was related to another Biate friend, he responded by using Pnar terminology to describe his relationship, which is, of course, a patrilineal family system. In a patrilineal system, his brother would be his ‘Kha,’ and his cousin would be his brother in a matrilineal system. If we adopt a patrilineal system, then the concept of “tip kur tip kha” goes topsy-turvy because your ‘kha’ becomes your ‘kur,’ and there is no concept of ‘kha’ anymore.
It also becomes complicated because if my children take my title, then that will be my mother’s ‘kur,’ not my father’s, since my father belongs to the Pariat clan. Even that is not entirely correct because my grandfather on my father’s side is Lamare, and my great-grandfather on my father’s side is from the Paslein clan. It is true we cannot just ignore this section of the population but should take them into consideration, and see how this important issue is resolved.
Authority to recognize who to include in the Kur
The other question is who has the authority to recognize that a person belongs to the Kur, which is important if identity is based on lineage alone. Is it the District Council, the State Government, or the Kur? If the tradition of ‘tangjait’ is considered, then the responsibility of recognizing a new Kur rests with the Kur, not even the District Council. The issue is complex, to say the least, so neither the Government nor the KHADC should jump the gun and come up with half-baked solutions which will only do more harm than good to the society.