Dkhar

Dkhar or Utkhar is a derogatory slur used to refer to non-tribal outsiders in Meghalaya and Assam. The term is mostly used against affluent Bengali Hindu settlers from West Bengal or the Bengali Hindu refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan and Bangladesh. The term is a Khasi word which means a foreigner. It is sometimes abbreviated to Khar. The resentment against the non-tribal outsiders were mostly against the Bengalis and the Nepalis who constituted bulk of the non-tribal population of the state. In 1979-80, Khasi mobs attacked the Bengali speaking people in Meghalaya resulting in an ethnic cleansing.