Challenging the recently submitted High-Level Committee report of the BJP-coalition Conrad Sangma Meghalaya government on the ownership of the land of poor Sikhs at Bara Bazar, Shillong, the Harijan Panchayat Committee, representing the interests of the hundreds of families of poor Sikhs living there for the past two hundred years and more, have rejected the report, portions of which were revealed to the media yesterday by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. WSN reports. 

The Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, after a meeting of his cabinet,  stated that his government, through the Urban Affairs ministry will complete the process of taking over of land at Punjabi lane within a week, as they have already entered into an agreement with the tribal overlord Syiem of Hima Mylliem.

The so-called High-Level committee was headed by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who throughout has been biased against the poor Sikh residents of the area. 

Lambasting the government of Meghalaya for their repeated attempts to dislodge and harass the poor Sikhs in the Bara Bazar area, Gurjit Singh, the secretary of the Harijan Panchayat Committee, in a strongly-worded retort has said that, “We will fight for our rights till our last breath. We will die for our land and will not allow any illegal, unlawful, unethical and unjust action by the Meghalaya government.”

At a press conference yesterday, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that following the report of the High-Level Committee, “the process of taking over the land at Sweepers Colony at Them Iew Mawlong will be completed within a week said,”

Speaking to The World Sikh News, Gurjit Singh said, “First the government tried to browbeat us by letting anti-social elements attack our homes in 2018. Now after failing in court, the government is again using strong-arm tactics. Even government employees cannot be forcefully shifted to another location.”

“It is ironic that the Cabinet has failed to appreciate the genesis of the case, which is that poor Sikhs, who have served their state are now being made victims of forcible eviction under the pressure of land mafia and for the simple reason that the then inaccessible area, nearly two hundred years back, is now prime property,” he added.

The  High-Level Committee was formed on 4 June 2018 and its report was submitted on 28 September 2021.

Gurjit Singh warned, “the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court of India and the Meghalaya government would be committing a breach of procedures if it insists on going ahead with its illegal plans.”

“We will fight for our rights till our last breath. We will die for our land and will not allow any illegal, unlawful, unethical and unjust action by the Meghalaya government.”

Gurjit Singh, Secretary, Harijan Panchayat Committee, Shillong

Rubbishing the claims of the Chief Minister and the Urban Affairs ministry that they have entered into a tripartite agreement of the land, the press release of the Harijan Panchayat Committee read, “We are the legitimate owners of the so-called disputed 2.5 acres of land, as it was gifted to our ancestors by the tribal chief Syiem of Hima Mylliem.  No one else has the right to this land. The present Syiem of Hima Myllieum is being pressured by granting him ownership of a large chunk of the land. Under local laws too, he too has no authority to retake back a gift given by his predecessors. The tripartite agreement between the Syiem of Hima Mylliem, Urban Affairs and the Shillong Municipal Board has no legal locus-standi and is patently illegal.” 

Justice Sen of the Meghalaya High Court, in an order on 15 February 2019, had clarified that the title deed of the Punjabi Colony has to be settled by filing a title suit and not through any unilateral decision of the Meghalaya government. 

It may be noted that the government of Meghalaya is in an inordinate hurry even though a status quo has been ordered by the Meghalaya High Court at Shillong on 9 April 2021.   

The government of Meghalaya is in an inordinate hurry even though a status quo has been ordered by the Meghalaya High Court at Shillong on 9 April 2021.   

Furthermore, since the attack in 2018, after several visits and hearings, the National Commission for Minorities, the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis had also ordered status quo and no relocation of anyone from that area.  The claim of the Meghalaya government that they will act on the findings of the High-Level Committee on relocating government employees and others from the area is a clear violation, among other things, of these orders. 

Spelling out details of their fight for their legitimate right to their habitat, Gurjit Singh said, “We will knock the doors of the National Commission for Minorities and expedite cases in the Meghalaya High Court and the Supreme Court of India.

Gurjit Singh, speaking to The World Sikh News said, “The recommendations of the Meghalaya Cabinet are to be consigned to the dustbin as they are patently illegal and unjust.