Polity
Meghalaya: District council to introduce
Bill changing age-old Khasi matrilineal inheritance custom
·
A district self sufficient council in
Meghalaya is attempting to alter a customary exercise of inheritance of the
Khasi tribe in which the youngest daughter of the circle of relatives is
bequeathedthe full share of parental property.
·
The Khasi Hills Autonomous District
Council (KHADC), an autonomous body under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,
is scheduled to introduce the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Khasi Inheritance
of Property Bill, 2021, for “equitable distribution” of parental property among
siblings – each male and girl.
·
The Khasis are a matrilineal society and
trace inheritance and descent through the mother’s clan.
·
The ‘custodian’ In the matrilineal Khasi
community, lineage and inheritance is traced through the daughter.
·
In maximum Khasi households, ancestral
belongings is bequeathed to the youngest daughter (khatduh) of the family, who
will become the “custodian” of the land, and takes over all obligations related
to the land, together with looking after aged parents, single or destitute
siblings.
·
Custom also dictates that the khatduh
cannot sell the property, without permission of her maternal uncle.
·
Problems
associated – In the Khasi custom, the youngest
daughter inherits all the property of the parents.
·
As a result, the siblings (not just
boys, but eldest girl siblings too), do not get their share.
·
Sometimes, when a couple has no
children, and there is no genuine heir, the clan takes over the property, as
per custom.
·
Over the years, a few businesses have
protested the system of belongings inheritance, pronouncing it “disinherits”
guys, and pressed for equitable belongings distribution between all kids within
the own family.
·
Note
– Even if the KHADC does skip the Bill, Paragraph 12A of the Sixth Schedule
says that the proper of passing a district council law ultimately rests with
the nation legislature.
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