Why Meghalaya’s new state anthem has led to a controversy over the state’s Jaintia tribe

What is the controversy about?

The two-minute-long anthem features segments in three languages – Khasi, Garo and English. Soon after it was launched, the rumblings of discontent began over the Jaintia or Pnar language not being represented in it.

On the inclusion of English, the Jaintia Students’ Union accused the state government of “promoting a foreign language”, and said it should instead “include dialects of all three tribes – Khasi, Jaintia and Garo.”

Meghalaya is understood to have three major matrilineal communities – Khasis, Garos and Jaintias. But the Jaintias are clubbed along with the Khasis in the state’s Scheduled Tribes (ST) list, along with tribes such as War, Bhoi and Lyngngam. Together, they make up 14.1 lakh of the state’s population (based on 2011 Census data). The Garos number around 8.21 lakh, with the state’s total population being 29.7 lakh.

What are the concerns over Jaintia or Pnar?

Jaintia pressure groups have emphasised their community’s unique history and identity to demand the inclusion of Pnar in the anthem. Stressing this, Samborni Lyngdoh, the President of the Jaintia National Council, pointed to the existing administrative divisions in the state.

There are three Autonomous District Councils in Meghalaya, under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, for the administration of tribal areas in certain states.

These are the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council. Lyngdoh also points to administrative divisions that were in place before Meghalaya got its statehood in 1972.

He said, “We have our own culture and mother tongue. After the British gave us independence, we came under the Assam state. When we look back at 1951-1953, when the state of Assam gave us a District Council, they gave us a United Khasi and Jaintia Autonomous District Council. This meant that there was Khasi and then there was Jaintia.”

“When we got the state also, there has been a distinction between the Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills. Our stand is very clear: when the foundation of the state is through Khasi, Jaintia and Garo, if we have an anthem, it should reflect that… We want the state government to recognise our history and not just neglect us in the Meghalaya state anthem,” he added.

Focus on distinctiveness

Lyngdoh also spoke of a unique history by emphasising personalities such as Jaintia freedom fighter U Kiang Nangbah. He led an uprising against the British in the Jaintia Hills in the 19th century after the annexation of the Jaintia Kingdom. “We the Jaintias have our own freedom fighters, we stand on a unique history and we don’t want the government to neglect us and render us a lost tribe.”

Congress MP Vincent Pala, who represents Shillng and hails from the Jaintia Hills, pointed to the structuring of positions of power at the state’s highest level. While Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is from the Garo Hills, the state has two Deputy Chief Ministers: Prestone Tynsong is from the Khasi Hills and Sniawbhalang Dhar is from the Jaintia Hills.

“When it comes to the Deputy Chief Minister position they can justify this, but they don’t want to do this in the state anthem. I suggest that the government rectify it, otherwise, the gap will grow wider and wider between the communities… You cannot deprive people just because of official languages… It is not a language, it is a representation of a tribe,” he said.

How has the government responded?

Representatives of the National People’s Party-led Meghalaya Development Alliance government said that the anthem’s languages were selected based on the Meghalaya State Language Act of 2005.

The Act designated English as the state’s official language and also designated Khasi as the ‘Associate Official Language’ for all purposes in the District, Sub-Divisions and Block level offices of the state government in the districts of East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, South West Khasi Hills, East Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi.

Garo language was given the same status in the districts of East Garo Hills, West Garo Hills, South Garo Hills, North Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills.

“Our basic point is that there is a notification and a provision for English as the official language of the state and of two associate official languages. These two languages have been taken. We have to base any decision that we make as a government on acts and rules. Hence, for us to be able to do that [add the Jaintia language to the anthem] there has to be necessary changes in the relevant act or rules itself,” CM Sangma told reporters.

He also argued that acceding to the demand would lead to a slippery slope: “If we are deviating from that, we don’t have any reason to give for others who may demand tomorrow, such as Bhoi or other tribes. So, we can’t justify it because they can say that ‘you have given to this language, that language’. The government cannot arbitrarily do this.”

The other view, on commonalities

While Jaintia pressure groups emphasise a culture, history and language that is distinct from that of the Khasis, several commentators have emphasised their commonalities. Meghalaya Arts and Culture Minister Paul Lyngdoh said, “We have always believed the Khasi-Jaintia to a single cohesive community.”

Sociologist Tiplut Nongbri, in her paper Culture and Biodiversity: Myths, Legends and the Conversation of Nature in the Hills of North-East India, wrote on the common origin myth of groups such as the Khynriam, Jaintia, War, Bhoi and Lyngnam as a unifying factor.

The myth of Ki Hynniew Trep says that seven families lived in heaven and would come down to Earth to cultivate their crops. One day, they found themselves unable to return because the great tree which connected their homes to Earth was cut off. They set up homes on Earth in seven different huts, and these were the ancestors of the different groups.

“In an apparent identification with their local environment the Khasi are internally differentiated into five distinct groups namely Khynriam, Pnar/Jaintia, Bhoi, War and Lyngngam. However, in recognition of their common ancestry and oneness as a people, they collectively define themselves as the children of U Hynniew Trep [Hynniew Trep means seven huts]. In the contemporary era where identity crisis centering on ethnicity is a universal phenomenon, shared origin provides the people with a common rallying point,” she wrote.

Alluding to this belief, Lyngdoh said, “Historically, we always believed in the unity of Khasi and Jaintia as one tribe… Also, you have to bear in mind, that we are also linked by blood, the clans. History and traditions and our creation myths are all the same. There is hardly any difference in the language used. All these things have to be kept in mind if anything has to be thought of afresh,” he said.