Meghalaya: Sikh Community To Resist Government's Eviction Plans

Shillong: Following the Meghalaya Cabinet's decision to relocate the Sikh community from the Them lew Mawlong area in Shillong which is also called the Punjabi lane, the Sikhs have sat down in protest against the eviction.

In regards to this, the Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya Prestone Tynsong said to the media that the government was working with "due diligence" on this matter.

Speaking to the press he said, "We are following due diligence. It is not a question of throwing out the Sikh community from the area. Our aim is to relocate them to a proper place."

On October 7, a proposal suggesting the relocation of the Sikhs from the Punjabi Lane was approved by the Meghalaya Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. The proposal was recommended by a high-level committee which is headed by the Deputy Chief Minister himself.

The formation of the committee in June 2018 was the result of the age-old land dispute between the Sikh community and the Khasi community. The violent clash that took place between the two communities added more weight to this issue. 

According to the Sikh community, the land was given to them as a 'gift' by the Syiem (chief) of Hima Myliem in the 1850s. However, the government claims that the land belongs to the Urban Affairs Department.

The Cabinet's decision which was announced on October 7 states that the right of the land will be handed over to the Urban Affairs department within a week's time. The Chief Minister also informed in a tweet that the permanent employees of the Shillong Municipal Board would be shifted to constructed quarters. He also added, "Further, we will request the other residents residing in the colony to shift to the designated locations." 

The Sikh community are protesting against this news. According to Harijan Panchayat Committee representing Sikh Dalits, the community would fight "tooth and nail" for their homeland.

Harijan Panchayat Committee Gurjit Singh said to the media, "We have lived here for 200 years. Time and again, the government tries to move us and our people get scared." He informed that they had two documents that suggest that the land was gifted to them by Syiem of Mylliem in two agreements,  one in 1954 and the other in 2008. 

Deputy Chief Minister Tynsong explained the government's intention and said, "While several of them work at the SMB, there are many settlers as well and we do not know where they came from. We request them to help us make an inventory, and come forward and declare their details such as name and occupation."

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