Why has the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs -MHA summoned the officials and ministers of the Meghalaya government in the wake of a threat by a proscribed militant body HNLC to kill the poor Shillong Sikhs? 

IT has taken a threat from the proscribed militant body HNLC -Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council for the Indian Home Ministry to call the higher-ups in the Meghalaya government to Delhi. The cries of the poor Shillong Sikhs, for the last one year, with representations to various government forums have fallen on deaf ears.

The Meghalaya state chief secretary P S Thangkiew has been summoned by the Ministry of Home Affairs officials and the Sikhs await with bated breath as to what stand he would take in the matter. Despite the issue being a burning issue, no effort has been made by the Meghalaya government to invite the Sikhs and understand their point of view.

Four days ago, the Harijan Panchayat Committee has sought protection from the Meghalaya CM. In the past, they have appealed to the Governor of the state too.  Sikh organisations -SGPC and DSGMC have met the state authorities but the Meghalaya government is unrelenting as apparently, they are under pressure of the various tribal groups.

It is ironic that the Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong briefed the media about this call from MHA, Delhi, with the euphemistic angle of “it is good to talk”, whereas it has been he who has been leading the sinister campaign to evict the poor Sikhs from the Punjabi lane area, locally called Thew Iew Mawlong, where they are settled for the last more than 200 years.

“I am telling you, we will not talk further but the state government and the High-Level Committee are determined for relocation (of the residents).

Prestone Tynsong, Deputy Chief Minister, Meghalaya

Yesterday morning he told a section of the media that “I am telling you, we will not talk further but the state government and the High-Level Committee are determined for relocation (of the residents). There is no way out because we have seen that place is not fit for human habitation.”  He also appealed to the NGOs and individuals from the Sikh community not to interfere in the affairs of the state by adding fire to the issue. 

Is this talk befitting that of a Deputy Chief Minister, who is running a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janta Party? Isn’t Meghalaya part of India?

Adelbert Nongrum -the member of the Legislative Assembly from North Shillong, in which constituency falls the Harijan Colony has also joined the chorus pressurizing the Meghalaya government to evict the residents of the area.

It is comforting that the Director General of Police Shillong R Chandranathan has stepped up security in the area in view of the threat call of HNLC to use military action against the inhabitants of the region.

The poor but steely Sikhs of the region have been agitating and fighting for their rights since the last three decades. The tribal students’ unions of all hues and shades eye their lands which is now prime land in the heart of the city, but which 200 years ago was almost a jungle and Sikhs have developed the place brick by brick over the centuries with honest hard work.

The Meghalaya government will have to explain to the MHA as to on what grounds is it forcing illegal notices, knowing fully well that the matter is sub-judice in the Meghalaya High Court and there are status quo orders from the National Commission for Minorities and the National Human Rights Commission. The MHA will have to seek the rationale for the unnecessary and unlawful pressure of the Shillong Municipal Board, who at the behest of the High-level Committee has served notices to 300 plus houses seeking documentation and inventory.

Sikhs are settled in Shillong for the last 200 years after the British Indian army invited them there for menial tasks. Sikhs in the Harijan Colony, also called Sweepers Colony have documentation given by the then Tribal chief Syiem of Hima Mylliem prior to 1863, reaffirmed in a declaration in 2008.

It is rather ironic that while the Meghalaya government and the local people are angry with the Punjab government sanction of Rs. 50 lakhs for the Guru Nanak School, Shillong, in view of the 550 Year celebrations of Guru Nanak Birth anniversary, the amount has so far not been given by the Punjab government despite an announcement by the CM months back.

Will the government of India allow the Sikhs to become the target of militants and blackmail of the political leadership of the government of Meghalaya?

The Ministry of Home Affairs will do well to listen to the Sikhs. In the past, the students’ unions have had their way and have pushed out many Bengali, Nepali and other residents.

The Sikhs build a Gurdwara for themselves and enabled others to build their places of worship. In good time, the Sikhs will manage to build their habitat in a modern way. The MHA will have to respect the right of the Sikhs by restoring the status quo and direct the government of Meghalaya to stop pushing relocation and eviction of poor Sikhs.

Will the government of India allow the Sikhs to become the target of militants and blackmail of the political leadership of the government of Meghalaya?

The Sikh world is watching with keen interest. The agony of the Sikhs in Shillong is the agony of the Sikhs worldwide.