Dkhar
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Dkhar, is a term used by the
Khasis The Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of M ...
to refer to non-Khasi people in
Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...
. It is non derogatory but some perceived it as derogatory. For Khasis any non-tribal is a ''dkhar'' and they address them by that term. In real, the term is mostly used against affluent Bengali Hindu settlers from West Bengal or the Bengali Hindu refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan It is sometimes abbreviated to ''′Khar'' and may also denote a Khasi clan with the same name.


History

The 'Khasi-English Dictionary' published in 1906, lists ''Dkhar'' meaning non- Khasi. The entry for its abbreviation '''khar'', elaborates the non- Khasi aspect. ''Dkhar'' or '''khar'' could either refer to an inhabitant of the plains or a person from the Khasi clan having the same name. ''Dkhar'' was originally meant to designate a clan among the Khasis to assimilate people of having partial Khasi ancestry, but differentiated from the indigenous Khasi clans. However, in gradual usage the term came to represent non-Khasi people from the plains area surrounding the Khasi territory. During the British period, Bengalis of all religions, mainly Hindu from
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
,
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...
and Sylhet settled in
Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...
by acquiring government jobs and engaged in other white collar professions. They initially settled in Laban, then a small farming village and from then Laban became synonymous with dkhar. The Bengali Hindu settlers were perceived as outsiders, foreigners to the Khasi Hills and were negatively referred to as Dkhars. The Bengali Hindu festival of
Durga Puja Durga Puja ( bn, দুর্গা পূজা), also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsava, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated ...
is called ''Pomblang U Dkhar'' in the
Khasi language Khasi () is an Austroasiatic language with just over a million speakers in north-east India, primarily the Khasi people in the state of Meghalaya. It has associate official status in some districts of this state. The closest relatives of Khas ...
, literally meaning the festival of the Dkhars. After the
Partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...
, many
Bengali Hindus Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Beng ...
from
East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...
and Sylhet District, which was awarded to Pakistan, moved to
Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...
. The Assam government settled the Bengali Hindu refugees in Them Rynjah (R.R Colony) and other neighbourhoods of
Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...
. During this period Nepalis, Biharis, Marwaris and Punjabis from various parts of Nepal and India settled in the present day territory of
Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...
. The indigenous Khasi tribals began to consider the Dkhars responsible for their unemployment, poverty and the loss of 'tribal lands'. The growing resentment was usually directed on the
Bengalis Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of ...
.


Beh Dkhar

In 1979, as the anti-foreigner movement gained momentum in Assam, the ethnocentric Khasi organizations like the Khasi Students Union and the
Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council The Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (abbreviated HNLC) is a militant organization operating in Meghalaya, India. It claims to represent the Khasi- Jaintia tribal people, and its aim is to free Meghalaya from the alleged domination of out ...
raised the slogan of ''Beh Dkhar'', literally meaning 'chase the Dkhars away', directed against the non tribals migrants of the state. Martin Narayan Majaw, the mercurial leader of another ethnocentric Khasi group called Demands Implementation Committee stated clearly, "We don't like outsiders to stay here. We tell them, come here, appreciate the blue sky and the green hills, and then go away."


See also

* Bongal *
Mayang Mayang ( "''Mayang Miao Autonomous County''", ; usually referred to as "''Mayang County''", ) is an autonomous county of Miao people in Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Huaihua. Mayang is lo ...
*
Malaun ''Malaun'' ( bn, মালাউন) is a pejorative term for Bengali Hindus, most commonly used in Bangladesh. The word is derived from the Arabic "ملعون", meaning "accursed" or "deprived of God's Mercy", and in modern times, it is used as a ...


References

{{ethnic slurs Persecution of Bengali Hindus Meghalaya Pejorative terms for in-group non-members Racism in India Shillong