As the curfew in Shillong’s Punjabi lane has been withdrawn, Shillong Sikhs restart the completion of their Gurdwara with meagre resources with the threat of their dislocation still looming large on them as the government seems determined despite status quo orders from the National Minorities Commission and the Shillong High Court. They await the promised funds from SGPC and the Punjab government.

Three tortuous months for a tiny Sikh population in the Punjabi lane of Shillong, reeling under veiled threats by the Meghalaya government to dislocate them from their habitat, the 200 plus households are piecing together their lives bit by bit, step by step.  The curfew has been withdrawn. Security forces and the barricades are still there. Though none of the promised funds from DSGMC, SGPC and the grant from Punjab government have been received, after the withdrawal of the curfew, with whatever minimal resources they have, the Sikh Sangat has started reconstruction of the Gurdwara so that it is completed before the 550 year birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak.

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Despite all the stay orders of the Shillong High Court and the National Commission for Minorities, there is a live threat poured out in the local media that the Chief minister’s high level committee has asked the Shillong Municipal Board to again do their incomplete inventory and survey of the Punjabi Lane Sikh residents. It is a clever and sinister move to segregate employees of the corporation from the rest of the residents and then seek their relocation elsewhere.  Significantly, the police and the administration do apprise the Sikhs of their decisions but there is no Sikh representative in the government-constituted high-level committee, which clearly shows the intentions of the government.

“We have requested many Gurdwara bodies and major social service organisations of the Sikhs, however, we have not received any funds from anybody so far. I am sure that Guru Nanak will provide us the resources.”

Gurjit Singh, President City Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Shillong

Speaking to WSN on the phone line from Shillong, Gurjit Singh who has been running from pillar to post to protect his brethren said, “I hope that when the SGPC executive meets tomorrow in Amritsar, they would take up our matter and expedite the sending of funds for our Gurdwara Sahib. We desperately need them.”

Responding to WSN’s specific query about the grant from the Punjab government, Gurjit Singh, who had met the Chief Minister Punjab Amarinder Singh with Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, two weeks back, said, “I am maintaining contact with the respective department and hope to get the grant soon for the Gurdwara Sahib and the Guru Nanak School.”  

 The “Sweeper” Sikhs -Dkhars -foreigners in Shillong

The DSGMC has been enabling legal assistance in the High Court and the NCM and the United Sikhs has also provided support and legal assistance in the cases of bail for the three Sikh boys who were detained under suspicion of violence.  “Our Sangat will remain grateful to one and all who have supported us through these difficult times, said Gurjit Singh.

“WSN believes that the livelihood of Shillong Sikhs can be protected by regular monitoring by Sikh bodies and sustenance by Sikh philanthropists and Gurdwaras. Is someone listening?”

“We have requested many Gurdwara bodies and major social service organisations of the Sikhs, however, we have not received any funds from anybody so far.” Always in Chardikala, he added, “I am sure that Guru Nanak will provide us the resources. Brick by brick, we will build our lives and our beloved Gurdwara Sahib and school. We are determined and I am convinced that we will celebrate the historic Gurpurab with traditional fervour.

Though the curfew has been withdrawn, the threat to Sikh existence in Shillong is presently not vocal but palpable. The local media frequently reports of the government’s intention to relocate the Sikh residents to the outskirts of the city.

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The Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong told the media that extra vigil will be maintained.  Notably, the violence on 31 May, which was directed towards the Sikhs, shifted towards stone pelting at the security forces in the nearby Mothpran areas. A magisterial report has been submitted to the government but the contents of this are not public. Moreover, even now the police authorities are summoning people to determine their participation or complicity in the violence.  More than a 100 people have so far been summoned and the process is on.

The Superintendent of the police of East Khasi Hills Shillong Marak has informed the media that, “though the situation is under control, it is not fully normal and extra vigil is being maintained.”

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Minorities has preponed the hearing in the case and will hear both the sides on 12 September 2018 in New Delhi. Similarly, the High Court of Shillong will also take up the matter on 20 September, as the state had sought time for filing replies at the last hearing.

The President of the City Gurdwara Shillong Gurjit Singh further informed us that they had written to the National Human Rights Commission seeking their report prepared by their investigative officers when they visited Shillong in the last week of June this year. He said, “I understand they have ordered status quo and we are very keen to see a copy of the report.”

The children and students living in the Punjabi lane are very upset at their habitat being continuously referred to as Sweepers Colony by the Shillong Times and other media. WSN learns that they have taken up this matter also with the NHRC and the Press Council of India.

The lands in Meghalaya are governed by the state government and the traditional Syiem of Hima Mylliem which had several decades back given rights to the forefathers of the present occupants of the place. To muddle the issue, there is another dimension being added wherein the chief executive of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Committee Hispreaching Son Shylla has said that the ownership of Them Iew Mawlong (the original name for the Punjabi colony or what was referred earlier on as “Sweepers Colony”) belongs to the Nongkhlaw clan and not to the Hima Myliem and that these lands were leased to the British in 1874. Significantly, Khasi became part of India on 26 January 1950 and not in 1947.  Also the North Shillong MLA Adelbert Nongrum is raking up the issue in a different way by asking the various government departments to provide staff quarters to their employees. All in all, a well-thought of game plan to somehow evict the Sikh residents.

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WSN believes that the lives and livelihood of the Shillong Sikhs can be protected through regular monitoring by Sikh bodies and sustenance by Sikh philanthropists and Gurdwara bodies. Rebuilding a two acre plot for poor Sikhs is not rocket science, it only requires love for the poor, a unique all-encompassing approach, proper investment of funds and far-sightedness.

Is someone listening?