Khasi women who marry non-indigenous men and offsprings are non-Khasis, says KHADC law

Shillong, July 25: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has unanimously passed the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018 which sought to declare tribal women who married people from non-indigenous communities and their offsprings as “Non-Khasis”.

The Bill was introduced by the KHADC chief executive member (CEM) Hispreaching Son Shylla on the first day of the summer session of the Council here on Wednesday, and the amendment bill was supported by members from both the ruling coalition Khasi Hills Democratic Alliance (KHDA) and the opposition People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA).

The Bill defines a Non-Khasi as “a person not belonging to indigenous Khasi Tribe classified as Scheduled Tribe under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order, 1950 (Part III – Rules and Orders under the Constitution) Part XI – Meghalaya.”

Sub-section 3 (d) in the second amendment Bill further states – “Any Khasi woman who marries a Non-Khasi as well as her offspring(s) born 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 privileges under any law.”

It said that the law will be applicable in the entire jurisdiction of the KHADC and shall come into force with immediate effect.

While tabling the Amendment Bill, Shylla said, “Whereas it has become necessary to further strengthen the Khasi Social Custom of Lineage by way of codification of Khasi customary laws for better implementation of KHAD (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) Act, 1997.”

Speaking to reporters after the session, Shylla said that the executive committee has decided to meet the Governor Ganga Prasad on July 27, to ensure the Bill gets his approval within a month’s time.

“We would also lead a delegation to the chief minister Conrad K Sangma and District Council Affairs Minister James K Sangma for their necessary interventions into the matter,” he said.

Earlier in the House, the KHADC chief said that the decision was taken after seeing that there has been rampant misusing of the Khasi social custom of lineage by people for their personal interest which affected the Khasi indigenous community.

Stating that the objective of the Bill was to provide a law to protect and preserve the matrilineal system, he said, “This will to a great extent prevent unscrupulous persons to claim Khasi status in order to get the previleges conferred on the Khasi as members of Scheduled Tribe (ST).”

Pointing out that land can be transferred indirectly to non-tribals through such marriages, Shylla that the existing acts such as the Trading by Non-Tribals Regulation Act, the Meghalaya (Benami Transactions Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, the Meghalaya Transfer of Land (Regulation) have failed to protect the interest of the indigenous people.

He said the KHADC have come across many times whereby during inspection Khasi women would come forward to claim that the shop belongs to them when in fact, the shop belongs to a non-tribal.

Asserting the need to have strong laws to protect the indigenous people, Shylla said, “We are facing what we call a silent invasion and if this not address, it will affect our people which may lead to bloodshed.”

Shylla foresee that young people may be forced take up arms to fight the growing number of non-tribals. He said, “When non-tribals increase in number they will not hesitate to fight back and this will also lead to bloodshed.”

Maintaining that he is not against love marriage as it is totally a personal choice, he however said but such Khasi women will lose their status of being a Khasi.

Also making it clear that the law will be prospective in its effect, Shylla however said that the Act does not apply to the already married people.

Among those who supported the Bill were the three women MDCs – Grace Mary Kharpuri, Rona Khymdeit and Teilinia S. Thangkhiew.

Participating in the discussion on the matter, Kharpuri said that as a woman representative, it has always been her desire that such a law should come into force to preserve and protect the indigenous community especially women.

On the other hand, Khymdeit urged the district council to also take into consideration the unique customary practices of the people in Ri Bhoi.

“In Ri Bhoi, we have this practice called Leit Shaw Mikir, Leit Shaw Dkhar, Leitshaw Bhoi and Ringbia where a Khasi man has the right to give his title to his offsprings from a non-indigenous wife,” she said while urging the Council to bring a law to give recognition in order that it will not affect the customary practices of the people.