Shillong, July 3: The proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has slammed the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) for allegedly trying to strip the Dorbar Shnong of its powers over land through an amendment to the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Regulation and Administration of Land).
In a statement issued on Friday, HNLC general secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw demanded for withdrawal of the amendment bill and termed the justification offered by VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit as “misleading.”
In case the VPP-led Executive Committee refuses to withdraw the Bill, the HNLC said, “The Governor of Meghalaya must withhold assent in order to protect the customary land rights guaranteed under the Sixth Schedule.”
Rejecting Basaiawmoit’s reliance on the 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), Nongtraw said, “By relying on the 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), which claims that around 76 percent of households in Meghalaya own no private land, he seeks to justify stripping the Dorbar Shnong and Hima of their customary authority while concentrating unprecedented powers in the Executive Committee (EC).”
“This is not genuine land reform. It is the centralization of land governance under the guise of solving landlessness,” he said.
Nongtraw said Basaiawmoit, as an MLA, should raise the matter in the Assembly, not through KHADC.
“For generations our people have lived, cultivated and inherited rights over Raid and Hima land through customary institutions and community ownership rather than colonial style private titles,” Nongtraw said.
Urging traditional heads to organise, he said, “Every Hima, every Syiem, every Doloi, every Wahadadar, every Sordar and every Rangbah Shnong must stand united and, more importantly, get organised in defence of our ancestral land and customary institutions.”
