The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) celebrated the 71st District Council Day here today, marking its creation as the then United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District Council in 1952.
At a function at its headquarters, the council paid homage to the late Rev JJM Nichols Roy, who is known as the “father of district councils”.
Nichols Roy had played a major role in the inclusion of the Sixth Schedule in the Constitution for the preservation, protection and safeguard of indigenous tribes through the creation of district councils.
Speaking at the function, Chief Executive Member Pyniaid Sing Syiem said that it was on June 27, 1952 that the Sixth Schedule under Article 244 of the Constitution came into being and provides for the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) that are empowered to make laws to protect the indigenous Khasi people, their land, customary practices and traditions.
“Many political representatives from Nagaland came to meet us to find out more about how the district council functions and wanted the same,” Syiem said.
After the central government revoked Article 370, which gave special protections to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, political representatives from Ladakh (now a separate Union territory) also met with the KHADC “because they feel unprotected from various central laws,” the CEM added. “They came here to understand the function of the district council as empowered under the Sixth Schedule and they feel that Ladakh should also demand a district council.”
Similarly, many other hill tribes in the country now look to the KHADC and the other two councils in Meghalaya as examples of how to protect themselves.
“We are hopeful that all the suggestions given by our members are heard by the state and central governments regarding the 125th constitutional amendment (on the Sixth Schedule) and we are further empowered to protect our unique system and tradition,” Syiem said.
Meanwhile, KHADC leader of the opposition, Titosstarwell Chyne, stressed that the term ‘unrepresented tribes’ should not be incorporated in the proposed amendment.
The central government wants to incorporate a change that would see unrepresented tribes have nominated MDCs representing their interests in the district councils.
“As council members we had opposed this in the past and we should continue to oppose this because we cannot say if the government of India would forcefully incorporate the term unrepresented tribes in the amendment to the Sixth Schedule,” Chyne said, adding a call for the amendment to include a clear statement that the KHADC electors and MDCs should only be permitted to come from the Khasi community.
