A senior member of the Seiñ Raij Jowai ruffled some feathers while addressing the gathering at the 124th Seng Kut Snem function here today.
Chandlok Dkhar warned adherents of the indigenous faiths of Meghalaya not to fall prey to ‘love jihad’. He also took aim at the autonomous district councils, saying that they have shown themselves to be incapable of protecting tribal culture.
In most of the country, love jihad is an Islamophobic trope used largely by Hindutva groups to accuse Muslim men of marrying Hindu women with the intention of converting them to Islam.
Today, Dkhar used the term to refer to the declining share of the population of adherents to the indigenous faith in Khasi-Jaintia Hills.
Dkhar, who is the chairman of the arts and culture committee of Seiñ Raij Jowai, said that believers in Niam Khasi/Niam Tre make up only 11 percent of the population, according to the last census, down from 100 percent 200 years ago. According to the 2011 census, more than three-quarters of Meghalaya’s population now identifies as Christian.
“If we love our community, we should put our religion ahead of us. But we have put it behind us,” he said, apparently suggesting that Khasi-Jaintia converts to other religions do not love their community.
Dkhar also said that “love jihad” has affected the Niam Khasi and Niam Tre faiths and he cautioned believers to be vigilant against it.
“We are here to increase our community and if we make mistakes with who we marry we will be subtracted,” he stated.
Therefore, he said that the time has arrived to show why Niam Khasi/Niam Tre make up only 11 percent of the population. He also questioned why the community is not recognised as a minority group; it has been suggested in the past that indigenous faithful should either get a separate quota from that allotted to Khasi-Jaintia tribals in jobs and education or that only they should receive the benefit of Scheduled Tribe status and not converts to other religions.
Meanwhile, Dkhar also slammed the district councils, asking what these bodies have done to protect the culture and traditions of the indigenous communities.
He said that the time has also come for the members of the indigenous faiths to sit in the district council to preserve tribal culture.
“They (MDCs) contest elections to become Members of the District Council only to be corrupt. If the district councils cannot preserve our culture and tradition, time has come for us to knock on the doors of the court or go to Delhi to abolish these institutions,” Dkhar said.
