Introduction

by: James M. Perry

Khasi Seng Kut Snem

Seng Kut Snem is the yearly celebration of the establishment of  ‘The Seng Khasi.’  This year’s celebration marked 101 year since the establishment of the group with its aim to bring together those who hold to the original Khasi faith and who follow the traditional custom of matriliny.   The Seng Khasi holds in their Constitution the four following points:  as taken from an article by Sweetymon Rynjah:   

1. It is organization of the Khasi agnates and cognates who adhere to the tenets of matriliny as handed down by the predecessors from time immemorial.

2. The second principle – In humanity, to earn only the righteousness – a tribute to the Creator. This principle was based on the teaching of the original Khasi faith as laid down and handed over by the ancient Khasis.  A Khasi understood that he came into this world with the divine commandment of the Almighty and he is bound by the tenet to regulate his life with the knowledge of the Creator.  This tenet is a link between man and his Creator by a chain of righteous conduct in life there after.  Man has a right to live in correlation with his duties to be raised for pleasing himself, his fellowmen, but also the Almighty God.

3. The other principle on which Seng Khasi stands forth, is to increase the knowledge of “Tipkur-Tipkha” i.e. knowing one’s agnates and cognates as contended in Khasi thought.

4. Lastly, the Seng Khasi also stands forth, for the faith and belief in one Almighty God the Lord, the Master and the omniscient.

I had the privilege this year, as an observer and sometime participant in Khasi religious gatherings, to be a part of one of the bigger gathering seen in recent years.   This year the Seng Khasi held a parade through some of the streets of Shillong with depictions of the life and culture of the Khasi and Jaintia people.  

Often as I sit and watch goings on within the Seng Khasi I am pleased to see the survival of the culture even with the long and war like effort that the Christian Missionaries started in the North East regions back in the 1800’s.   I myself come from a Christian missionary family background, born to a family who spent some 15 years in Shillong doing work in the name of Church.  I hold no animosity to my family nor to their effort, however after much contemplation and thought into the ways and process of the Christian conversion movement I must stand in principle against much of their actions. 

Let me clarify my stance: I hold in deep respect those who have a faith in something; whether it be a Christian faith or otherwise.  However I am much disturbed by the way mission work takes place.    Here in the Khasi hills and North East in General we see foreign or local missionaries sponsored from outside living a good life here in India, telling the people they should convert to Christianity so as to have everlasting life.  All this is fine and well but what statement does it make on a persons faith and conviction when they do not understand the locals struggles or needs.  When a villager sees that Christians are more modern, have more and are more western, naturally his or her tendency is to convert.  Christianity to them means ‘westernianity’ (or in other words a better life here on earth). 

The day I see a missionary from a foreign country or from here – give up all his or her worldly possessions and securities of monthly wages from outside, get a job with the locals, work amongst the locals as the locals and live day to day like many do here and at the same time preach the word of everlasting life – that may be the day that I have some faith in the missionary work.    There are many statements in the bible in respect to not worrying about tomorrow and not being concerned about a resting place or home for it will be provided yet when do we see the foreign paid missionaries living like this – most are unwilling to even give up some of the conveniences of the west let alone learning what the common man struggles with on a day to day basis. 

This is not to say that Christianity cannot go hand in hand with the Khasi traditions; it is only my viewpoint and one of the many aspects of the diminishing of the Khasi traditional way of life.  

It is with this short statement of an aspect of my views that I present to you a series of articles on Khasi Life, Religion and Culture.   I present these over the course of time and as time will allow me on typing them on to the web page, with respect to all those who write, I make no statement or bias as to my beliefs.  They are meant to provide a base of information about the Khasi people.