Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya questions KHADC’s Social Custom of Lineage (Amendment) Bill

Shillong, July 26: The Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya (GCCM) on Thursday questioned the “hasty decision” of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council in passing the KHAD (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018 without taking views and suggestions of different Himas and Clans into consideration.

The Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018 passed by the KHADC on Wednesday, sought to declare tribal women who married people from non-indigenous communities and their offsprings as “non-Khasis”.

Sub-section 3 (d) of the Bill states – “Any Khasi woman who marries a Non-Khasi as well as her offspring(s) bron out of such marriage(s) shall be deemed as Non-Khasi who shall lose the Khasi status and all privileges and benefits as a member of the Khasi Tribe who cannot claim preferential priveleges under any law.”

Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya (GCCM) Chairman John F Kharshiing told reporters that the Bill was more or less just an expression of insecurity.

He felt that no legislation should have any negative impact.

Stating that Bill will be of grave injustice to tribal women, Kharshiing said that if the KHADC brings such a legislation which will have far reaching consequences, it should be backed with facts and datas.

“My simple question to the KHADC is, has any survey been conducted on the population of the Khasi people? Does the KHADC have the census of the clans? If not, how did they know that the population of the Khasi people have increased or decreased,” Kharshiing asked.

Kharshiing said that he failed to understand on what basis the KHADC was claiming that tribal Khasi women are marrying people who are non-Khasis.

He also questioned the failure of the KHADC to do anything on the “Tang Jait” which allows initiation of a new clan out of the marriage between a Khasi male and Non-Khasi woman.

“If you (KHADC) have not done anything on Tang Jait, this (exercise) then is a grave injustice to the Khasi women,” he said.

According to Kharshiing, the Khasi society is based on clans, and the decision was taken without consultation with different clans and 52 Himas under the Council’s jurisdiction.

“Before taking such a crucial decision, the Council should have considered constituting a committee for consultation with clans and Himas in order to debate on both positive and negative sides of the Bill,” he said, adding that the Khasi society was not based on imposition, but it is based on own genius.