By Gregory Shullai
The Khasi often ask themselves, “Am I Khasi or am I Christian?” Yes, between the two, what I am is the first and foremost question. It’s become a very important talking point in many social circles, and we will not torture ourselves by demanding an answer right away, instead we will allow ourselves some space to look into the pros and cons of both and a bit of the history that we went through before attempting to declare our position. There are a number of things that must be taken into the bargain because of the various clouds and disturbances – in short, slight attacks of stupidity – that might be inherent in what we declare ourselves to be – if ever we dare.
As Khasis we suffer from a nervous tribal fever, a political ambition, and a religious identity; for instance, among present day Khasis there is alternatingly the anti-outsider folly, the Seng Khasi or Niam Raid folly, the Christian romantic folly, and whatever else these little obscuration of the Khasi spirit and conscience may be called (Khasi also includes the Jaintias and every other group that belong to the broad term Khasi). Forgive me for even raising this issue, but like anyone else I have not been spared from entertaining these thoughts about matters which did not concern me earlier,or to put it simply I’ve never been so politically inclined to seek for an answer on this subject earlier – maybe this is the first symptom of a political infection.
About the non-Khasis, for instance, listen to the following: I had never met a Khasi who was favourably inclined to the non-Khasi till recently. And for quite some time however, had decided the repudiation of this anti non-Khasi as being the natural path of all prudent and political Khasi men and women, because this prudence and policy is not perhaps directed against the nature of the sentiment itself but only against the dangerous threat of an influx of the non-Khasi into the land that the Khasis believe is exclusively meant for them – on this point we must not deceive ourselves. That the Khasi Jaintia Hills have sufficiently large numbers of non-Khasis, and that the Khasi head or the Khasi stomach has difficulty (and will continue to have difficulty) in dealing with the number of non-Khasis, unlike the Assamese who have a stronger ability to imbibe non-Assamese ways into their culture by means of a stronger social system and a language and a religion that is akin to the non-Assamese, and which therefore harbours no fear from influx from the mainland as compared to an influx from another country, the Khasi nature is still feeble and uncertain so that it could easily be wiped out – easily extinguished by a stronger community and in that sense it is understandable if not justified. In this sense whether it be on geographical or ethnic grounds the Mizos, the Nagas, and the Manipuris also seem to have a stronger stomach to face such influx as compared to their Khasi brethren. In spite of all the protection given to the Khasi by the Constitution of India, the non-Khasis in these areas are beyond all doubt the strongest, toughest and most decided people at present living in our hills: they know how to succeed even under the worst conditions…they even knew how not to allow the Christian ways from penetrating into their way of life and their way of belief by means of a virtue of some sort which does not need to be ashamed before ideas that are different to theirs.
To be honest, I have anticipated my answer to this problem. Its presupposition is that the nature of a Khasi has been preserved in us, even if that supposition is in truth a very distorted one primarily because some Khasis have given their lives in the pursuit of the maintenance of the Khasi way of life. A thinker who has the future of the Khasis at heart, will, in all his perspectives concerning the future of the Khasis, need to understand the perspectives that the mainland Indians had when dealing with the foreigners and understand their perspective of the future and use the same since theirs will undoubtedly be the surest and likeliest factors in the great play and battle of forces that break or maintain a race. That which is at present called a Khasi tribe is really “a thing made” into a tribe- a “schedule tribe” – something which only recently formally distinguished us, and presently still distinguishes us from the other races that make up the diasporas of the people in North East India, though the intermingling of the tribes through marriage has diminished that distinction to a great extent. As a tribe, the Khasi are in every case still evolving, still young, still easily displaced and not yet worthy of being called a race much less a race such as the Assamese, the Nagas, and Mizos, who are existing alongside us. It is because of this factor that we should most carefully avoid all hot-headed rivalry and hostility on this subject. It is certain that the Nagas, the Mizos and even the Manipuris, if they desired or were driven to it, could resist influx and still have their ascendency, perhaps even the supremacy, over the other tribes or races that may seek to find a footing into their society, even though in all honesty it may be said that they are not working towards that end, they may not even be entertaining such ideas, but this cannot be said about the Khasis who many believe were and still are wondering how to work towards what their fellow tribes have already attained, and to those Khasis that are working toward that end, there is only one fact they must contend with…it is too late now. To be blunt, it can be said that the Khasi is perhaps the most vulnerable tribe in the North East India.
It is not as if the Khasi in any way wants to be absorbed into the mainstream culture – no, they still do long to remain as Khasis, to be settled, authorized and respected as Khasis in their State, and so put an end to the doubts they harbour that their ways and their culture will decline and extinguish altogether. And it is in this context that one should take into account the fact that Christianity and Christian morality has penetrated so deeply into the Khasi way of life, into the Khasi culture, that the latter has now lost most of its hue and character unlike what is happening to their fellow tribal brethren in Mizoram and Nagaland (it probably reflects a mitigation of the Khasi instincts), for which purpose it would probably be useful and fair to determine a point beyond which we should not allow any dominant Christian value, that is opposed to Khasi culture, to penetrate and replace the old ways, because a lot of Christianity has established a permanent hold in the Khasi culture.
The freedom fighters from amongst the Khasis that did make advances on this matter in their time and day did so but without applying the prudence and selection that their brethren in the other States in the North East adopted; or perhaps Christianity didn’t compel itself upon their ways as it did in the Khasi Hills. It stands to reason that the more successful tribes in the North East retained their culture despite the intrusion of Christianity into their way of life and which for all practical purposes could not do away with their indigenous culture and instead was imbibed without altering in any way their other socio-cultural characteristics. It would be interesting in many ways to see whether the love of money and power of the Khasi had in any way played a role in superseding their love for the ways of their ancestors and especially if some intellect and intellectuality – sadly lacking among a majority of those that led the people – could not in addition be added to the former cause – both of which the present-day Khasi has a classic reputation.
Having hinted at the reasons why the Khasi is the most vulnerable tribe in the North East, it is expedient to break away for some time from what has been the focus above and consider the other problem that many understand is the first problem that the Khasis face now – the development of two new ruling classes from among themselves that the confront the people, because one class of people have the backing of the crucial force that education and health play in the development of a society and which undoubtedly has been the most potent force in the spread of its ideas–Christianity. Christianity and its ideas have caused the complete displacement of the old ways, not only among the Khasis but throughout the globe, and secondly the political class that now have the ascendency because money plays such a pivotal role in the lives of the people these days. It is very probable that these elements have distorted the Khasi and therefore there are many reasons why the ways of the Khasi could not remain pure, whole and free of accretions. The environment in which this ancient Khasi nature went along with life must have been taken for granted, as must even more the fate of the Khasis who first faced the invasion of Christian ideals, because only then should the Khasis have awakened themselves to the fact that something was happening which left them awkwardly wondering who they really were.
It is certain that the Christian Khasis even if they desired (or were driven to it, as some non-Khasi Christians seem to think) to protect their lands and their ancient culture, could still have their way over these hills; but that they are not working or planning towards that goal is equally certain. Perhaps they wish, even importantly, to be absorbed ‘somewhere’ and thereby finally settled and respected ‘somewhere’ – putting an end to their nomadic thoughts and inner wrangling that still seem to possess them, but as of now they have no idea what or where they want to be absorbed. But whatever it is that they want they should make advances with all prudence and caution because what they decide to opt for may leave them even more disturbed than they are now. It stands to reason that the more powerful and rich among the Khasis may want – without the least hesitation – to assimilate themselves in the Indian mainstream because they believe they have the money, the patience and the possessions and they even believe they have the intellect to match the mainland Indian which, according to them, is sadly lacking in the majority of their fellow Khasis: except for the fact that Christianity is so foreign to the Indian mainstream. This fact has therefore left them in a vacuum. This group of Khasis are now enriched with traits which become comprehensible only with reference to a society that has an altogether different agenda in life – tribal at heart but otherwise non tribal.
In conclusion, I can only surmise that what I’ve opened up is a painful and dreadful matter because though the Khasi is able to answer whether one is first a Khasi or a Christian he is unwilling – and so would prefer to say nothing at all.
