• Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) order not to issue a Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate to any Khasi person who adopts the surname of her or his father has triggered a war of words in matrilineal Meghalaya.

ABOUT KHASI TRIBE

• The Khasis, numbering about 1.39 lakh, are one of the three indigenous matrilineal communities in the Meghalaya.
  • The other two are Garos and Jaintias.
• Khasi traditions-
  • Khasis follow a matrilineal system of inheritance and youngest daughter or “Ka Khadduh” inherits the property.
  • After marriage, husbands live in the mother-in-law’s home.
  • The mother’s surname is taken by children.
  • The birth of a girl is celebrated while the birth of a son is simply accepted.
  • There is no social stigma attributed to a woman remarrying or giving birth out of wedlock as the “Khasi Social Custom Lineage Act” gives security to them.
  • Child care is the responsibility of mothers or mothers-in-law.
• Khasis are now mostly Christians but before that, they believed in a Supreme Being, The Creator – U Blei Nongthaw.