After two years of the Justice Sen order of the High Court of Meghalaya at Shillong, ordering status quo ante in the premises and lives of the poor Sikhs residing in the Bara Bazar area of Shillong for the last two centuries and more, the government of Meghalaya in a face-saving measure has withdrawn its review petition challenging the said order. WSN editor Jagmohan Singh highlights the anti-minority gameplan of the NPP-BJP-led Meghalaya government and calls for an urgent Sikh response.

THE DAMOCLES’S SWORD STILL HANGS OVER the lives of the beleaguered Sikhs there as the Appeal of the Meghalaya government on the matter of maintaining the status quo of poor Shillong Sikhs is still under consideration of the court, even after the withdrawal of the review petition on the same subject. So far no date of hearing has been fixed as in the past year proceedings were delayed due to the COVID19 pandemic.

On 1 April 2021, after the court reopened after a long Covid19-enforced gap, represented by an eminent lawyer from Shillong M. F. Qureshi, with no DSGMC lawyer appearing. Justice Diengdoh accepted the state’s plea to withdraw the petition, “in view of the fact that on the same issue and subject matter, an appeal is pending before the Division Bench of this Court, this matter may be allowed to be withdrawn.”

SGPC, DSGMC and the Punjab government must become proactive again and take up the case of Shillong Sikhs.

On 15 February 2019, Justice S. R. Sen, after verbally admonishing the government of Meghalaya in open court, accepting the plea of the poor Shillong Sikhs, had passed an order on the writ filed by DSGMC lawyers N. Benipal and Harpreet Singh Hora stating, “I direct the government and all other agencies not to disturb the petitioners in any manner and if at all they want to evict or remove them, they are to approach the Civil Court and the Civil Court will pass a proper judgment after giving equal opportunity to both the parties and decide the title in accordance with the law.

The order further stated that “District administration is directed to arrange security to the petitioners and to maintain law and order.”

Understandably, this order irked the government and in a quirky move, rushed to file a review and an appeal on the same day, perhaps in an attempt to circumvent due process to manoeuvre a court order in their favour. Political and human rights observers in Punjab monitoring the developments in Shillong since the current conflagration say, “the government has withdrawn the review petition to save its skin in the appeal.”

Clearly, in view of the 15 February 2019 order and the withdrawal of the review petition on 1 April 2021, the government of Meghalaya is on a weak wicket.

“We are committed to continuing our legal and social fight for the protection of our human rights, social rights and rights as citizens of Meghalaya,”

Gurjeet Singh, Harijan Panchayat Committee, Bara Bazaar, Shillong

The NPP-BJP led Meghalaya Democratic Front government comprising the main regional groups and the two-member Bharatiya Janata Party has not stopped eyeing the lands of the poor Sikhs in the heart of capital Shillong, inhabited by them for two centuries. Since the last few weeks, the state government leadership has been issuing statements on the floor of the state assembly as well as to the media threatening that the High-Level Committee will soon release its report on the eviction of the poor Sikhs.

Heretofore, the Sikh leadership, the Punjab government, the National Commission for Minorities, the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis have all chastised the Meghalaya government and in their reports urged it not to disturb the lives of the poor Shillong Sikhs.

The Gurjeet Singh-led Harijan Panchayat Committee in Shillong has left no stone unturned to maintain peace, sanity and work zealously to ensure that the lives of the poor Sikhs are not disturbed in any manner.

“We are committed to continuing our legal and social fight for the protection of our human rights, social rights and rights as citizens of Meghalaya,” said Gurjeet Singh, while speaking to WSN on the phone line from Shillong, in his reaction to the current Meghalaya High Court order.

It is ironic that the government of Meghalaya, under pressure from the indigenous groups is pursuing an exclusion policy against another minority community, which has made the distant lands their homes. Greed in the name of beautification and corporatisation of the lands of the marginal Sikh community is unmissable.

There is an urgent need for the SGPC, DSGMC and the Punjab government to take up the case of Shillong Sikhs. There is no room for complacence.