SHILLONG, MAY 12: The proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has launched a scathing attack on Ardent Basaiawmoit, accusing the president of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) of using Khasi tradition as an election tool while abandoning its core principles in private life.
In a statement, HNLC general secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw said politicians who quote “foreign kings” like David and Solomon but fail to respect local syiems are complicit in the erosion of indigenous identity.
“Never trust a politician or a political party that hides behind the Bible while destroying the roots, identity, and traditional institutions of its own people,” the statement said.
The outfit said Basaiawmoit had publicly targeted the HNLC for raising concerns over the sanad of Syiem Sohra, claiming he understood “riti-dustur and identity.”
“At a public meeting, Ardent Basaiawmoit publicly attacked HNLC for defending the legitimate concern over the sanad of Syiem Sohra. He boldly declared, ‘I am a Khasi, I know well the riti-dustur and identity,’” Nongtraw said.
The HNLC then questioned the VPP chief’s personal adherence to matriliny.
“Your own children carry your patrilineal title. That is not a rumour. That is a fact. And that fact alone raises serious questions about standing on any public stage and lecturing others about Hynniewtrep tradition,” the statement said.
“This is not a mistake. This is not a private matter. This is rank hypocrisy in public office,” it added.
The HNLC argued that the VPP’s manifesto claim of protecting indigenous values rings hollow if its president does not practise them.
“If the President of VPP privately practises patriarchy while publicly preaching matriliny, then VPP is not a cultural party. It is a cultural performance,” the statement said.
On the Hima Sohra succession row, the HNLC alleged political interference by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC).
“When ‘ki khun ki hajar ka Hima Sohra’ and the HNLC stood in support of Syiem Maremdor as the rightful successor, the KHADC ignored the voice of the Hima because political interest became more important than the will of the people,” Nongtraw said.
“The delay in granting the sanad was never truly about respecting tradition. It was about creating political space for Bah Planet to contest after the Hima had already declared its successor,” he alleged.
“Today many people believe the real objective is political control over Hima Sohra, its authority, and its revenue while pretending to act in the name of protecting tradition,” the statement said.
The HNLC said the “deepest wound” is the internal surrender to a colonial mindset.
“They laughed at our clothes and made us wear theirs. They laughed at our names and made us change them… They laughed at our Syiems and made us bow to their kings. They laughed at our matrilineal system, the very foundation of Hynniewtrep dignity, and made us trade it for their patriarchal order,” it said.
“Perhaps the deepest wound is not what was done to the Hynniewtrep people from the outside, but what has been quietly surrendered from within,” Nongtraw said.
Calling Basaiawmoit a leader who “knows how to gather and emotionally excite crowds,” the HNLC said performance cannot substitute for principle.
“Crowd entertainment alone cannot move a nation or uplift the jaidbynriew. A leader must stand on consistency, principle, and moral courage, not just speeches and slogans,” it said.
“In opposition they sounded like revolutionaries in the streets. In power they behave like bureaucrats protecting authority while the people themselves are forced to protest against them,” the statement said.
The HNLC posed a direct question to the party: “We demand VPP answer directly and publicly, does your party stand by matriliny in practice, or only in election speeches?”
“Culture is not a campaign tool. And leadership that cannot live its own values has absolutely no authority to question those who do,” Nongtraw said.
