Indian Khasi tribe puts women in control

SHILLONG (AFP) - India's remote northeast is home to an ancient tribe whose high regard for women makes it a striking anomaly in a male-dominated country.

But as the world marks International Women's Day this Friday, the region has become a staging ground for an unlikely battle in which men are trying to end a matrilineal tradition practised by more than a million people.

The Khasi tribe in the picturesque state of Meghalaya places women at the centre of its society from the cradle to the grave.

"Go to any hospital and stand outside the maternity wards and listen," says Mr Keith Pariat, a men's rights activist.