Meghalaya’s Matrilineal Inheritance Custom

Subject – Polity

Context – Meghalaya: District council to introduce Bill changing age-old Khasi matrilineal inheritance custom

Concept –

A district autonomous council in Meghalaya is attempting to modify a customary practice of inheritance of the Khasi tribe in which the youngest daughter of the family is bequeathed the full share of parental property.
The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), an autonomous body under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, is scheduled to introduce the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Khasi Inheritance of Property Bill, 2021, for “equitable distribution” of parental property among siblings – both male and female.
The Khasis are a matrilineal society and trace inheritance and descent through the mother’s clan.

The ‘custodian’

In the matrilineal Khasi community, lineage and inheritance is traced through the daughter.
In most Khasi families, ancestral property is bequeathed to the youngest daughter (khatduh) of the family, who becomes the “custodian” of the land, and takes over all responsibilities associated with the land, including taking care of aged parents, unmarried or destitute siblings.
Custom also dictates that the khatduh cannot sell the property, without permission of her maternal uncle.

Problems associated –

In the Khasi custom, the youngest daughter inherits all the property of the parents. As a result, the siblings (not just boys, but eldest girl siblings too), do not get their share.
Sometimes, when a couple has no children, and there is no genuine heir, the clan takes over the property, as per custom.
Over the years, a few groups have protested the system of property inheritance, saying it “disinherits” men, and pressed for equitable property distribution between all children in the family.

Note –

Even if the KHADC does pass the Bill, Paragraph 12A of the Sixth Schedule says that the right of passing a district council law ultimately rests with the state legislature.

To know about Autonomous District Council, please refer September 2021 DPN.