Working with Sikligar Sikhs for the past decade, I realised Sikhs have a larger than life image of themselves. Beneath the veneer of bravado lie buried our misgivings, weaknesses and brute differences of caste and class. The state of the poor amongst us is not part of our social parlance, religious dialogue, political narrative or community planning. Non-acceptance of poverty amongst Sikhs has led us into a labyrinthine thicket emerging from which requires huge investments of mind, manpower, money and management resources. The editor of The World Sikh News presents the situation of the poor Mazhabi Sikhs in Shillong with this perspective. He seeks your indulgence to understand it thoroughly, not superficially. He advocates constant monitoring and investment to save the situation for the beleaguered community.

In the lands of the Northeast, far away from Punjab the poor Dalit Sikhs of Shillong, categorised as Sweeper Sikhs, even after more than some 150 years of settlement there, are still dkhars -foreigners for the majority tribal Khasis. They have kept the city clean and tidy and now facing the crisis of majoritarian politics of the country.

It may be difficult for the present generation of Sikhs to digest the cold hard facts of Sikh caste working as it has unfolded in Shillong. The problem is not just of the local Khasis who are now in an overdrive due to political patronage, for which they waited too long, but also of the existential crisis of the poorest of poor Mazhabi Sikhs or the Dalit Sikhs as they are sometimes called vis-à-vis other sections of Sikhs. This story, howsoever complex and painful has to be narrated. It is a 100 year too late.

To understand their status and then seek a solution for residents of the Punjabi lane, officially Sweeper Lane of Shillong, Punjabi Sikhs (a term borrowed from Dr Himadri Banerjee, to distinguish them from those living for centuries in other parts of the Indian Diaspora) will have to shed their larger than life image and stop self-aggrandisement.  On the eve of the 550-year commemoration of the birth anniversary of the founder of the Sikh faith -Guru Nanak Sahib, we will have to go back to our roots and accept our fault-lines.

“It may be difficult to digest the cold hard facts of Sikh caste working as it has unfolded in Shillong. It is a complex, painful story of poor Mazhabi Sikhs vis-à-vis other sections of Sikhs. It is a 100 year too late.  ”

Living a skeleton existence in tin-roof kutcha houses, the forefathers of the Mazhabi Sikhs were taken to Shillong by the British army as sweepers as there was no other community willing to do the menial jobs. The Mazhabis were staple to British needs including to be part of the Imperial forces during the First and Second World Wars.  The present conflagration started with eve-teasing and the proud Sikhs, howsoever poor or Dalit they be, could not take that lying down. Two young girls who were fetching water from a community tap were assaulted and they retaliate, enough for the “locals” who saw an opportunity to bring to fore their bias, anger and angst. Of course, the damage done through gossip on social media cannot be discounted.

The overwhelming presence of the armed forces and paramilitary forces in a small area has so far saved the situation. Of the 50 people arrested so far, 3 are Mazhabi Sikhs as reported to the media by DGP Dr S. B. Singh.  

By a conservative estimate, as per Dr Himadri Banerjee there are close to 500 families, with the total number of residents being more than 2000, with a very miniscule minority of relatives comprising the floating population. The legal struggle for the present land has been in the courts in one form or another from 1954.  Gurjeet Singh, the president of the Gurdwara of the Sikhs of the Punjab Colony says, “We have documents showing our rights to this land given by this Hill Authority of the locals dating  way back 150 years ago.” Speaking to WSN, Gurjeet Singh said with a heavy heart, “While we are grateful to all leaders who have visited Shillong in the last three weeks, much more needs to be done as the recently formed high level committee has already started a survey of our houses despite our opposition and despite the assurances given to all Sikh delegations.”

“The Sikhs are not the only Dkhars -foreigners. Heretofore Bengalis and Marwaris and everyone who is perceived as “Bangladeshis” have also borne the brunt. ”

Care to look at the proceedings of the last three weeks. Upon hearing of the “violent incidents against Sikhs in Shillong” a delegation of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee went to Shillong and it was Facebook live, “We have reached “ground zero and everything is fine” is what DSGMC President Manjit Singh GK and deputy Manjinder Singh Sirsa said. They met Conrad Sagma -the Chief Minister of Meghalaya also, photos uploaded onto the Internet in real time.  Upon return to Delhi, they encapsulated the problem in a press conference, thus, “local population called Khasis are trying to usurp Sikh property”. Subsequently, nothing has happened. Is someone keeping a tab on the situation? Has there been an effort to understand the root cause of the problem and think of solutions?

Next, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee delegation led by Giani Harpreet Singh visits the beleaguered Sikh community, returns back to Punjab in a few days, does not make their report public, but announces reasonable financial aid to the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara and the affected Sikhs.  Small mercies are always welcome. The Hindustan Times reports them as saying, “SGPC vice-president Harpal Singh Jallah and general secretary Bijay Singh, said that they were happy that the rumours of violence towards Sikhs during the clashes were unfounded and they urged the government to keep the residents of the sweeper colony informed if they are to be moved to another neighbourhood.” I have no hesitation in repeating what Bhai Sahib Kapur Singh used to say about such Akali leadership, “For God’s sake, leave the Sikh community alone and go to hell!”

 “Dr Himadri Banerjee says there are close to 500 families, with the total number of residents being more than 2000, with a very miniscule minority of relatives comprising the floating population.
“We have documents showing our rights to this land where we live given by this Hill Authority of the locals dating way back 150 years ago.”

Gurjeet Singh, President, Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar, Shillong

The Punjab government sent Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, member Parliament Ravneet Singh Bittu, Gurjit Singh Aujla, MLA Kuldip Singh Vaid and IAS officer D S Mangat. In typical Congress style they reported on return that it was a law and order situation, which is now under control and that the Punjab government promises to compensate the two people whose houses were partially burnt and also one person whose hand-cart was burnt. Can you see Indira Gandhi’s healing touch somewhere!  It must be mentioned though, that they had the good sense to meet the Autonomous Hill Council leader Hima Mylliem -the Syiem of Mylliem. What transpired, no one knows. It may be mentioned here that there are no reports to suggest that the Congress leaders from Punjab met their Meghalaya counterparts as so far, they have maintained a studied silence on the disturbing situation.

The National Commission for Minorities Sikh member Manjit Singh Rai was the first person to directly declare that no attempt should be made to dislodge the Mazhabi Sikhs from their present habitat.  He has submitted his report to the Commission. During a meeting with this writer, he stated, “I have made two recommendations -one that there should be no dislocation of the poor Sikhs from where they are living and two that the 10 companies of central forces deployed in Shillong should stay there.”  He also apprised me that the Dalit Sikhs of Shillong is pending with the NCM since 2006. I also learnt that in July 2017, the government of Meghalaya had assured the NCM that there were no plans to dislocate the Dalit Sikhs of the Sweeper colony in up-market Shillong.

 ““I have made two recommendations -one that there should be no dislocation of the poor Sikhs from where they are living and two that the 10 companies of central forces deployed in Shillong should stay there.””

Manjit Singh Rai, Member, National Commission for Minorities.

Social service body, United Sikhs stuck to its mandate and provided temporary succour and permanent fire-fighting equipment should the need arise. One of its members, Mohinderjit Singh, however, sensing the situation after interacting with the population rightfully declared, that “no relocation plan would be acceptable.”

So far, this is what has happened.  To understand the situation 360 degrees, let us see what did not happen and why.

Take One: Across the board all religious and political delegations did not go to the roots of the issue. Everything was Facebook live, bytes, videos and “by and large, everything is normal” tone, returning quickly back after short visits.

 ““No relocation plan would be acceptable.””

Mohinderjit Singh, United Sikhs

Take Two: Apart from the established Sikh leadership, so far, no alternative groups or individuals attempted to go to Shillong either to express solidarity or to understand the genesis of the issue. Panthic bodies, women’s commission, Sikhs from Gauhati, Kolkata, human rights activists, et al,  where are they? There have been no street protests in Punjab and Delhi, Why?

Take Three:  The other “high caste” Sikhs residing in Shillong, Gauhati and other neighbouring places have failed to issue a single statement in favour of the Dalit Sikhs under attack.  There have been no reports of their interaction with the Mazhabi Sikhs. They have displayed utter spinelessness even at this hour and underplayed the situation even after desperate calls from Punjab and Delhi. Are they also under siege?  This may be largely true but it is only one side of the picture. They and everybody else need to remember what Bhagat Kabir Ji says in Guru Granth Sahib, “Jo padosi ke huha so apne bhi jaan.”

Take Four: A delegation led by Delhi Akali Dal leader Paramjit Singh Sarna also visited Shillong, met the Mazhabi Sikhs and the Chief Minister of Meghalaya. He has promised to send Parcharaks to Shillong.

Flashback: Without mentioning the nomenclature of the caste, suffice it is to say that the “higher caste” Sikhs and their Gurdwaras have been practising apartheid against the poor Mazhabi Sikhs for nearly a century. The poor Mazhabis too have internalised this and they too do not protest.  Does this sound familiar for other cities and towns? Look further within and the stark realities would hit you in the face.

Amrita Dutta, writing in the Indian Express, in her impeccable piece, “Impossible Homeland” says that as a Bengali, she grew up and internalised, almost like the Dalit Sikhs. In her words, “as children, we did not keep track of the violence, but the menace we felt as a second skin -in the urgency to return home from dusk; in the awareness that we are not welcome or allowed in certain areas; in the wide valley of suspicion that lay between the Khasis and non-tribals; the long curfew days that stretched before us after each spurt of violence; and the sense of shame at our community’s powerlessness, its landlessness.”

Presently, at least for now, WhatsApp and the Facebook has so far saved the situation for the Dalit Sikhs, otherwise Northeast is that part of India from where news does not filter beyond the borders. The hype, though sometimes overplayed, created a situation for all the delegations to visit. Should the need arise again, we will need Godspeed!

The genesis of the conflict is that the poor Sikhs are a victim of illiteracy, alcoholism on their part, apartheid and seclusion by Sikh brethren in Shillong and in homeland Punjab; greed and political upmanship on the part of the political forces in Meghalaya, pressure of the local land mafia, the Khasi Students Union call to stop influx of non-tribals to save their demographic status and the vulgar rise of Hindutva in a state which has only 2 Bharatiya Janata Party legislators.  With only 2 out of 70 seats in the “coalition” government of Meghalaya, the Bharatiya Janata Party finds it convenient to arouse local sentiments and push a divisive agenda.

If Sikhs have to be sacrificed, does it matter to the BJP? It does not. It is made easier by a defunct Akali leadership. Led by Sukhbir Singh Badal, Manjit Singh GK and Gobind Singh Longowal, they met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the crisis was still simmering. They did not mention anything about the poor Sikhs of Shillong, they only did chaplusi -illegitimate praise for “concession on GST on Langar.” Yesterday, they went to India’s Home Minister expressing concern for Shillong Sikhs. Don’t you think that this leadership too deserves the treatment suggested by Bhai Sahib Sirdar Kapur Singh!

Dr Himadri Banerjee, the author of The Other Sikhs, who has explored the Indian Sikh Diaspora milieu for the last five decades told the World Sikh News over the phone: “Do not forget that thousands of Sikhs, resident for a century and more in neighbouring Manipur and neighbouring country Myanmar left home and hearth from 1998 to 2006 without a murmur of protest or concern by the mainstream Sikh community.”  

The Sikhs in Myanmar and Manipur too did not protest and perhaps it is this that the Khasi Students Union, formed in 1978 was perhaps banking upon. I will not be wrong if I say that the brave Mazhabi Sikhs will resist to the last. The Khasi Students Union constitution says that the union has “to tackle the menace of influx which threatens to alter the demographic structure of the state thereby reducing the Khasi people to a minority within their own land.” Somebody needs to inform and negotiate with the Khasi Students Union that these few hundred Sikhs, eking out a living through hard work, living on the edge on small chunk of land given to them by the then “Hill leadership” a century and a half back, which through passage of time has become prime commercial property, do not hold a threat to anyone. Certainly, they are not a recent influx from anywhere. They have lived there for four generations, which qualifies them to be “locals.” If the Khasis see them as assets the way the Britishers saw them, they will open a new chapter in inclusive living. Northeast people and states must experiment with this rather than with the divisive agenda of non-inclusion starting with the Assamese “anti-foreigners” agitation. I have visited the houses of Sikh members of the ULFA who laid down their lives as local Assamese people did. The Mazhabi Sikhs should be seen as assets by the Khasis and other aboriginals of the region.

Those readers un-initiated in the ways of working of the Northeast in India need to take a deeper look.  Northeast is a different cup of tea. It will not be wrong to say that most non-tribals, manage a smooth living paying “protection money” and on the basis of “political understanding”. The Northeast was annexed to India much after 1947, the people are of Mongoloid origin and not Aryans, the people have faced the terror of the Indian army over the decades. Irom Chanu Sharmila’s 17-year struggle for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Manipur and Nagaland is a classic case of the extent of human rights violation in the region.

The Sikhs are not the only Dkhars -foreigners. Heretofore Bengalis and Marwaris and everyone who is perceived as “Bangladeshis” have also borne the brunt. Amrita Dutta is categoric on this, “This time, the dkhar is the Mazhabi Sikh community, which was brought by the British to work as scavengers and sweepers. While the violence is on leash, the shocking, unconstitutional demand to evict them from the heart of the city remains on the agenda of the powerful and violent Khasi Students’ Union.”

As a human rights activist, I respect the nationalism and ethnicity of the Khasis. I have been a strong votary and supporter of protection of human rights of all peoples of the Northeast. The present aggressive and divisive posture with the active involvement and fervour of the Bharatiya Janata Party leading to attacks on non-locals is a cause for concern.

The Khasis and Garos must see Sikhs as brethren who are ever-willing to be part of any inclusive society. The Dalit Sikhs, who left home, hearth and discrimination back in their own homeland, cannot be a danger to anyone, least of all to a society of which they have inextricably become a part. Refugees from Pakistan, Mazhabis from Punjab and now Dkhars from Shillong, where will they go?

The tribals must spare thought about the social fabric of the Dalit Sikhs. The motto of the Khasi Students Union is ‘Mait Shaphrang Khlur Ka Ri’ meaning ‘Strive Forward Children of the Soil’. The Dalit Sikhs are also “sons of soil” as are the Khasis. Even Sikhs in Punjab have demographic concerns due to influx of “other populations” upsetting the social and political applecart, but the situation has never taken an ugly or violent turn even under the worst trying circumstances and believe me, as Sikhs go, it never will.  The Sikh people stand committed to Sarbat da Bhala -welfare for all and anyone bothering to give an ear can hear it from the Gurdwara speakers in the Punjabi lane, every morning and evening at the end of the prayer meetings.  

Anthropologists may ask without clear-cut answers, “Do the Khasis have the proof that they are the first settlers of the city? Dr Himadri Banerjee, putting the whole story in perspective says, “The entire region is marked by hundreds of fluid boundaries known for unrestricted movement of numerous ethnic groups from Myanmar to India (NE ) and vice versa. The whole of NE India is inhabited by hundreds of ethnic groups and for it – one should read Sanjoy Hazarika, Sanjib Bariah and Subir Bhowmick. The whole area is inhabited by hundreds of  fluid communities. That is why Nagas fight among themselves, They do not have one language. Kukis and Meiteis fight. In Meghalaya, the Khasis have their rival ethnic communities.”

The fledgling Conrad Sangma government of National Peoples Party has been giving out mixed signals so far to the Sikhs. Notwithstanding party affiliation, P. A. Sangma, the illustrious father of the incumbent Chief Minister of Meghalaya maintained healthy relations with the Sikh community in Delhi and with legislators and parliamentarians from the Punjab, which his son must emulate in degree and kind.  

With their backs to the wall, the poor Sikh residents of Punjabi lane have no choice but to pray to God. Yet, they need to consistently and as a matter of right, seek the constant intervention, involvement, assistance and indulgence for retention and reconstructing of their lands for residence, rehabilitation and commercial upgradation from the larger Punjabi Sikh community, the Indian and the global Sikh Diaspora, which has hitherto completely ignored them.

Who will bell the cat and when is of extreme essence? Isn’t it? WSN advocates constant monitoring, significant monetary investment to upgrade the living standards of the poor Sikhs and opening of dialogue and negotiation channels with the Khasi and Garo peoples and the Meghalaya government. WSN promises to be ever-vigilant to bring the status of the Sikhs in Shillong in the times to come till the conflict is appropriately resolved.