Democratic by instinct

Yes, I could find an explanation for this when I read the speech the RevJ.J.M. Nichols-Roy made while inaugurating the District Council of theUnited Khasi-Jaintia Hills on June 27, 1952. He said: quot;Our plains brethrenwill have to train their own minds to have respect for the ways and mannersof the Hills people. For example, it is considered very rude among Hillspeople for anyone to interrupt another when he speaks. It is consideredmannerly among Hills people to wait until another finishes his speaking.quot;

For those not familiar with Nichols-Roy8217;s name, suffice it to say, his wasthe lone Northeast voice in the Constituent Assembly. He was a minister inthe Assam government, apart from being a pioneering businessman andindigenous ev-angelist. But more than anything, he is today known as thefather of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Surprisin-gly, it is thevalidity of this very Schedule that is now being questioned in the State.

In the Constituent Assembly, Nich-ols-Roy argued that the people of theKhasi-Jaintia Hills were never under Muslim or Hindu rule and they alwaysenjoyed absolute political autonomy. Even the British who subjugated themdid not dare to interfere in their traditional system of administration. Itwas in recognition of the validity of his argument that the Sixth Schedulewas incorporated in the Constitution to create directly-elected DistrictCouncils, which would protect the interests of the Hills people.

The Schedule made sense at that time because the Hills were to be part ofthe Assam gover-nment. Thanks to it, wh-ile all princely states about 600in India were abolished after the imposition of the new Constitution, the 25Khasi states survived and they continue to function to this day. But when aseparate Meghalaya state comprising the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills wasformed in 1972, the District Council concept lost much of its relevance. Infact, because of the councils, the state is now facing the peculiar problemof what is called quot;overadministrationquot;, as State Information Minister A.H.Scott Lingdoh put it to me. There is a lot of overlapping of powers amongthe local chiefs, the district council and the state government. Forinstance, take the case of land administration, which is one of the primaryfunctions of a government, second only to law and order.

In the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, all the land is either in the possession ofprivate persons or it belongs to the community. Outsiders cannot buy land.Nor can a cultivator keep the land fallow for more than three years, when itwill revert to the community. There is no land revenue, nor are there anytithes or other imposts levied upon the cultivator8217;s produce. In any case,the government does not own any land. The land is managed by the localchiefs known as the Syiems. The Syiem is appointed from the Syiem family,there being such a family in every Khasi state. A fact which is of universalapplication is that heirship to the Syiemship lies thr-ough the femaleside.

In recent years, there have been instances of Sy-iems having been summonedlike the Roman Cincinnatus, from quite humble positions, to undertake theduties of chief. It is not uncommon to find the Syiems working shoulder toshoulder with the commoners for a living. Their establishments are run withthe toll collected from the markets in their areas. A further step towardsthe recognition of the public will in the nomination of a Syiem has been theintroduction of popular elections, at which all the adult males vote.

The Syiems have legal powers to decide criminal and civil disputes and thedecisions are taken through elaborate discussion among the elected mantrisand other chieftains. In Khyrim state, which at one time covered 800 sqmiles, the Syiem decides all criminal cases other than murder. Thepunishment, which can include imprisonment, is swift and almost certain.Bail and other dilatory tactics cannot be employed by the defence side.Needless to say, the system is less time-consuming, inexpensive and hasstood the test of time, both before and after Independence.

But there have been occasions when this traditional system has come intoconflict with the District Councils, which have powers even to dismissSyiems. This has created unpleasant situations. For example, in the firstinstance of its kind, the District Council suspended U. Jormanik, the thenSyiem of Mylliem, which is one of the largest states and whose areas ofjurisdiction include most parts of Shillong.

The dispute arose over the acquisition of land for the Umtru-Hydro ElectricProject. Instead of winning his support, the council sought to browbeat theSyiem into submission. When the news of his suspension spread like wildfire,over 5,000 women stormed the Constitution Hall in Shi-llong where thecouncil was in session. The members of the executive had to be rescued, andescorted to their homes by the police. Finally, they were forced to resign.

While the Syiem system is democratic, it has its drawbacks too. The Khasisfollow a unique matrilineal system. It is the woman who is the head of thefamily. Khasi women are far more advanced than their menfolk in many walksof life. But when it comes to sharing political power, they are kept at adistance. Though in a state like Khyrim where a woman is the titular headand she has sacerdotal duties to perform, all the decision-makers are men.

The review of the Constitution and the inclusion of P.A. Sangma, a Garotribal, in the review committee have roused hopes of amendments in the SixthSchedule so that the problem of duplication of administration can beavoided. Meanwhile, one joke that Governor Jacob cracked is threatening tobecome a reality: quot;Before my term is over, I would have sworn in every MLAas a minister.quot;