Shillong, May 11:Hitting back at Voice of the People Party (VPP) chief Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, the former Syiem of Mylliem, Laborious Manik S Syiem, today sharply criticised the Nongkrem MLA and accused him of misrepresenting a traditional rights issue as a political one.
Syiem is now the advisor to the Synjuk ki Khlieh Nongsynshar Hima Sohra and said that his organisation will not be dragged into the “street-level party politics” of Basaiawmoit or anyone else.
The VPP is at the heart of an impasse regarding the new Syiem of Sohra. The previous Syiem Sohra passed away last year and, though there have been public calls for the appointment of Marremdor Syiem as the new Syiem, the VPP-led Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has not done so, instead appointing an Acting Chief until an election for new Syiem is held.
On May 7 people of Sohra and the Synjuk marched to the KHADC office to protest what Laborious Syiem called an injustice against the traditional process of electing a Syiem by Hima Sohra and its people. On the same day, in Mawlai, Basaiawmoit addressed a public meeting where he claimed that the issue of the new Syiem was being politicised to attack the VPP.
“I wish to state unequivocally: we will not be embroiled in street-level party politics or whatever party politics you may describe it as,” Syiem said in a statement. “Our struggle is dedicated to ensuring that party politics does not creep in to destroy the five sacred pillars of our traditional Dorbar system: (i) Dorbar Iing, (ii) Dorbar Kur, (iii) Dorbar Shnong, (iv) Dorbar Raid and (v) Dorbar Hima.”
He said these grassroots democratic systems have “survived the test of time and centuries” and remain the “ultimate binding force for ‘Ki Khun Ki Ksiew Hynniew Trep Hynniew Basa’.”
Laborious Syiem was the Syiem of Hima Mylliem but was voted out of power in 2004 following serious allegations levelled against his rule. He was first suspended by the KHADC, which he challenged all the way up to the Supreme Court. However, the suspension was upheld and the KHADC later called a referendum through which he was removed from power.
As a descendant of the “kur syiem,” Syiem said he is among thousands of the “Hynniew Trep Hynniew Basa” who have inherited the responsibility to protect customs and traditions. “The land we inherit is the living legacy of our ancestors and with it comes the responsibility to defend the dignity, faith, customs and rights of our people,” he said.
Accusing Basaiawmoit of “trampling on the very essence of the five-tier Dorbar system” in his “chase of a political chair,” Syiem asked him to desist. He said the MLA had “scandalised the innocent and honest demand of the people of Sohra to have the Syiem they chose according to the custom and religious rites of Hima Sohra.
“You branded these innocent people as NPP (National People’s Party) sympathisers, failing to see that their binding force is not party politics, but a love for the time-tested traditions inherited from their forefathers,” Syiem said. “They went to the KHADC to demand a certificate of confirmation, a duty the District Council is bound to perform. You are an MLA, not an MDC; your role is in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. Why interfere here?”
Rejecting claims of political affiliation, Syiem said, “Let me make it clear to you, once and for all, that I am not an NPP member. My conviction is to always stand up to any injustice done to anyone and in any form.”
