Tura, Sept 1: It was a father-son chat that turned into a mission for a people.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday launched “Tracing the Roots” – the state’s biggest ever hunt for its own identity – from the District Auditorium in Tura, on the 79th birth anniversary of his father and former Lok Sabha Speaker late Purno Agitok Sangma.
The programme, launched in presence of Arts and Culture Minister Sanbor Shullai and MLA Mehtab Chandee A Sangma, will scientifically document where the Khasis, Jaintias and Garos came from, how they migrated and what shaped their culture.
Dedicating the project to the people of Meghalaya, Conrad said it was born out of a casual conversation with his late father that kept haunting him.
“It was one of those normal conversations between a father and son. But every conversation with him was a classroom, a roadmap for life and for the state,” Conrad recalled. “He once said there is no proper scientific documentation of our roots, history and culture, especially of the Garos. That line stayed in my mind.”
That thought, penned into a small note one and a half years ago and shared with the Principal Secretary, the Minister and a few scholars, today became a full-blown research programme.
“This is not just academic work. It is about who we are,” the Chief Minister said, adding that God puts people in positions for a purpose and his purpose was linked to that conversation.
The multidisciplinary mission will bring together history, oral traditions, indigenous knowledge, linguistics, archaeology and archival research.
And it will go beyond borders. As many as 75 scholars will travel to Vietnam, Cambodia and Tibet to trace linkages. The Khasi-Jaintia leg is titled “Ki Dienjat: Re-examining Khasi-Jaintia Socio-cultural Linkages with Southeast Asia” while the Garo leg will test the Tibet and northern highlands origin theories.
Conrad also unveiled an e-portal that will be the central hub for all research data, collaboration, digital archives and publications for future generations.
“Tracing the Roots is more than research. It is a journey of rediscovery to reconnect with our past, understand our present and shape our future with confidence,” he said, reminding the gathering that forefathers always taught to care, respect and live in harmony.
