WSN will protect Sikhs of Shillong on slow death under siege of a biased Shillong media, threats from tribals and legislators, illegal orders of Shillong Municipal Board and unlawful High-Level Committee of the state. The silence of Sikh leadership after a noisy start hurts.  Mazhabi Sikhs of Shillong petitioned the National Commission for Human Rights last week and also expect reprieve from Minorities Commission meet on 12 July.

“Believe me, we are in the throes of harassment, mayhem, even death and total eviction from our home and hearth of nearly 200 years” cried Gurjit Singh over the phone line talking to The World Sikh News. “Since the last two decades we have been contesting for our rights, but now it seems our destruction is imminent as the government bulldozers are ready to dislocate us -our women and children have not slept properly for the last 35 days since the May 29 attack.” said he narrating how everyday the media carries threats from politicians and biased reports by journalists out to spread hatred and lies about the Sikhs of the Harijan Colony of Shillong.

WSN learns that though it has not yet become a public and media concern, minority communities, other than Sikhs are also being threatened as the 2-member BJP supported government becomes more stubborn and uncoperative. One of the oldest dailies of the region -The Shillong Times and other local newspapers hardly allows any word in favour of the Dalit Sikhs and is full of diatribes and veiled threats from MLAs to the Sikh residents.

 Also Read: Shillong hurries Mazhabi Sikhs eviction, disregards all objections

Couple of days back, a report read, “The chairman of the Meghalaya State Planning Board and Independent legislator from Nongrkrem, Lambor Malagiang said the state government has identified a few places for the relocation of the legitimate residents of the Punjabi Lane (Them lew Mawlong.). He is reported to have further said that, “We have seen that a number of organisations from Assam and New Delhi are coming here to interfere in the matter related to the state, while the whole process is still on.” He went on to say that the government will not compromise on the subject of relocation of the residents. We would like to see that the place is vacated.

“Since the last two decades we have been contesting for our rights, but now it seems our destruction is imminent as the government bulldozers are ready to dislocate us -our women and children have not slept properly for the last 35 days since the May 29 attack.” 

Gurjit Singh, President, Guru Nanak Darbar, Shillong

The Synjuk Ki Nongshynshar Shnong ka Bri u Hynniewtrep (SNSBH), a traditional body of headmen is also reported to have said that since the houses of the Dalit Sikhs were locked when the so-called inventorisation survey of their houses was initiated, it was evident that they were illegal settlers in the Sweepers Lane. The organisation resisted the visits of “outsiders” and claimed that this was a state subject.

It is not that the Union government is unaware of this. Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal has apprised Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the situation and the public and media have been given to understand that the Home Minister has accepted to look into the matter, though one does not see any evidence of that.

Deeply concerned for the poorest of the poor Sikhs of the region, veteran scholar Dr Himadri Banerjee categorically asks, “Why is Punjab and the Sikh Diaspora silent to the slow death suffering of the poor Dalit Sikhs of Shillong?

In their representation on the letterhead of the City Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Bada Bazar, Shillong, the Mazhabi Sikh residents of Punjabi lane, Shillong submitted to the National Human Rights Commission last week, seeking immediate intervention.

 The “Sweeper” Sikhs -Dkhars -foreigners in Shillong

“The government will not compromise on the subject of relocation of the residents. We would like to see that the place is vacated. ” 

Nongrkrem, Lambor Malagiang , chairman, Meghalaya State Planning Board and Independent legislator

WSN wonders whether the NHRC will act post-haste and protect them or will it prepare a report after the damage has been done?

The Mazhabi Sikhs thanked the NHRC for their visit and also their remarks that they take umbrage at the area being called a Sweepers Colony. It is perhaps for the first time that some governmental authority has made such a remark.

Exhorting the NHRC to take quick strict action, the memorandum pointed out that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 23 June 1993 has categorically stated that, “The practice of forced eviction constitutes a gross violation of human rights.”

Inter alia, the Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1993, para 1 states that, “International human rights law establishes norms and principles touching on virtually all facets of life. This is reflected in the consistent reaffirmation by the international community of the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights, whether civil, cultural, economic, political or social. The indispensable equality of all human rights, now firmly entrenched in the provisions of international human rights instruments, is particularly evident when examining human rights violations relating not just to one right, but to a broad range of human rights.

““Why is Punjab and the Sikh Diaspora silent to the slow death suffering of the poor Dalit Sikhs of Shillong? ” 

Dr Himadri Banerjee, veteran scholar and author of The Other Sikhs

One such infringement of human rights is the practice of forced evictions: the removal of individuals, families or communities from their homes, land or neighbourhoods, against their will, directly or indirectly attributable to the State. Forced evictions might not initially be viewed necessarily as an issue of human rights, but rather as a simple side-effect of development, of urban renewal, a consequence of armed conflict, or an aspect of environmental protection or energy generation by, for example, hydroelectric dams.

However, to be persistently threatened or actually victimized by the act of forced eviction from one’s home or land is surely one of the most supreme injustices any individual, family, household or community can face. The perpetual insecurity of people intimidated by this practice, coupled with the frequent use of physical violence during its carrying out, begin to reveal the personal and collective trauma invariably inflicted on those faced with the prospect of forced eviction. No one volunteers to be an evictee.

““The practice of forced eviction constitutes a gross violation of human rights.”” 

World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 23 June 1993

Tolerated in most societies and officially encouraged in many, forced evictions dismantle what people have built over months, years and sometimes decades, destroying the livelihood, culture, community, families and homes of millions of people throughout the world every year.

Contesting for their legitimate rights, they further pointed out the present Meghalaya government, creating a climate of fear and terror against us in connivance with local tribal bodies, is ignoring all title deeds, documentation, orders of the Shillong High Court and humanistic considerations and seems hell-bent on evicting us from our home and hearth where we have been living for more than 200 years. This is a clear violation of the Constitution of India and the right to live, which includes the right to shelter and livelihood.

Citing a judgement from the Supreme Court in a similar case in Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation, popularly known as the “Pavement Dwellers Case” a five judge bench of the Court implied that ‘right to livelihood’ is borne out of the ‘right to life’, as no person can live without the means of living, that is, the means of Livelihood. That the court in this case observed that:

“‘The right to livelihood’ is borne out of the ‘right to life’, as no person can live without the means of living, that is, the means of Livelihood. ” 

Supreme Court of India in the Pavement Dwellers Case, Mumbai

“The sweep of right to life conferred by Art.21 is wide and far reaching. It does not mean, merely that life cannot be extinguished or taken away as, for example, by the imposition and execution of death sentence, except according to procedure established by law. That is but one aspect if the right to life. An equally important facet of the right to life is the right to livelihood because no person can live without the means of livelihood.”

Gurjit Singh, speaking on behalf of the poor Sikhs while submitting the memorandum reiterated that, “Given the circumstances and the alacrity and speed with which the government of Meghalaya is determined to uproot us from our habitat and deny us our right to livelihood by terming it “relocation” is a threat to our lives. Throwing us in some corner of the city of Shillong, where we cannot earn a livelihood and where we are subjected to fear and repression from the local tribal population is on the cards and the National Human Rights Commission has to take proactive action to protect us.”

The attempt to do illegal surveys of people’s belongings, length and breadth of houses is a gross violation of the human rights of the poor Mazhabi Sikhs. Such surveys are not only illegal but a total infringement of our right to privacy, said Gurjit Singh, President of Guru Nanak Darbar, Shillong. He also pointed out that the City Gurdwara Management Committee is in possession of all title deeds, documentation, orders of the local Autonomous Hill Council and various orders of the Shillong High Court.

The City Gurdwara Parbandak Committee, acting on behalf of the peoples as well as the Hindu Temples, Valmiki temples and a church in the Harijan colony sought immediate intervention of the Union of India and protection under Article 21 of the Constitution of India as well as Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”

With a very heavy heart, he said that that they told the NHRC team that, “Our lives are in danger. Our children and women are scared. All our protests have been orderly and peaceful despite huge provocations. Please save us from this desperate situation. The acts of the state defy logic, rule of law and all human rights and humanitarian considerations.”

 If you like our stories, do follow WSN on Facebook.

“The situation in Shillong today is reminiscent of Germany in the 1930s” says Dr Banerjee. Germany got a Niemoller to remind the world of their duties towards the oppressed.  In Mumbai, when the slum dwellers were being evicted in the name of development, actress and activist Shabana Azmi alongside Anand Patwardhan stood like a rock and saved them.

Do the Sikhs have anyone? Will someone rise to the occasion before we start fretting, fuming and God forbid, maybe mourning too?