SHILLONG, AUG 14: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has decided to recall the KHAD (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (First and Second Amendment) Bills passed in 2015 and earlier last month.
The decision was taken at the meeting of the Khasi Hills Democratic Alliance (KHDA)-led executive committee held here on Tuesday.
After the meeting, KHADC chief executive member (CEM) Hispreaching Son Shylla said, “The EC has decided to immediately write to the District Council Affairs (DCA) department for returning the two Bills.”
Shylla said that the 2015 Bill need to be corrected after the process of appointment of a Clan elder (Rangbah Kur) was wrongly inserted adding since this matter relating to the Clan elder should be taken up in a separate Bill.
He pointed out that the section in the 2015 Bill, which states that the children of mixed marriage will still get the Khasi status if they take the surname of a tribal Khasi mother, also need to be deleted.
“This is in view that a new section has been inserted in the recently passed second amendment Bill, which clearly states that a Khasi woman who marries a Non-Khasi and their offsprings will be declared as non-Khasis,” he said.
Stating that the penalty clause in the first amendment Bill is also found to be very weak, Shylla said, “The executive committee will be sitting to decide on how to further strengthen this section to deal in case there is misusing of the Schedule Tribe status.”
Asked, the KHADC chief also maintained that the objective of the second amendment Bill is clear that a Khasi woman will lose her Khasi status if she marries a non-Khasi which also includes other tribes in the region. “Even if she marries a Garo she will also lose her Khasi status,” he added.
He however said but this does not mean that a Khasi woman cannot marry a person from Jaintia Hills since it has been clearly defined that Khasis include khynriam, pnar, bhoi, war…
According to him, the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) is also contemplating to introduce similar legislation in line with the one passé by the KHADC.
Shylla further stated that the loss and deprivation of Khasi status is already there in section 10 of the Khasi Social Custom of Lineage Act, 1997 and said, “To say that this Bill aims at doing away with the matrilineal system is wrong since the objective is to preserve the indigenous community.”
On the other hand, the KHADC chief while taking a dig on those who are against the Bill said that in fact the matrilineal system will no doubt get diluted if mixed marriage is encouraged.
“Moreover, this Bill has been brought as per Article 29 (1) of the Constitution of India which gives the absolute right for protection of minorities,” he said.
Reacting to another query, Shylla said that Bill is also like codifying the customary practices of the indigenous people in the Khasi Hills region.
“Most of the villages in the region are totally against mixed marriage and this has been a customary practice of our people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the CEM informed that the executive committee will also take a call on the growing demand that the Bill should also equally be applicable to Khasi men who marries non-Khasi women.
By Our Reporter
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