11 traditiol chiefs for 2,000 people

From Staff Correspondent

Shillong, Oct 3: With a population of 2,000, the Krang community township in East Khasi Hills district has a bizarre distinction of having 11 officially-recognised traditiol chiefs who are now at loggerheads with each other over physical boundaries and loyalties of the residents.

The rough data – of 2,000 residents, 1600 eligible voters and 700 households – was provided by Elstep War, president of the Synjuk ki Nongsynshar Shnongs (conglomeration of Krang local traditiol councils).

However, what is clear is the politics of polarisation within a miniscule population.

In a traditiol Khasi set-up, it is simply weird that the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) will endorse a hamlet with 30 households to break and have its own village council. Yet, it endorsed through a sad and bestowed on the Lyngdoh of Sohiong the authority to officially sanction and recognise them.

Astonishingly, villagers who move from one village to another due to marriage or other activities do not fall under the governce of the area he/she inhabited.

This is exactly the chaotic situation visible from the splits of the Sordars (chief of fiefs). Six of the Sordars have rebelled against the conglomeration of local chiefs by accusing a section of the functiories of “imposing their ideas irrelevant to the way that they should function”.

On Tuesday, leader of another five Sordars shot back by saying that there are mushrooming heads with no adherence to the common call. “We are not against the appointments or policy of the recognised village, but the problems is related to multiplicity of traditiol laws in an area where we commonly reside.”

“From implementing the MNREGA to lining the boundary, multiple social activities in time of death and calamites – everything has been restricted,” stated Elstep War while asking the Lyngdoh of Sohiong to step in to resolve the issue. He also said that they are not against the appointment of Sordars by any recognised village except to realign the boundaries at the earliest on the basis of the survey carried out recently.

The Lyngdoh of Sohiong and the KHADC Chief Executive Member could not be contacted on the issue, even as observers said that politics is the real issue that has come into play ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections.