Residents of Punjabi Line protest and lock doors as municipal officials arrive to conduct survey of the locality.
New Delhi: The residents of the violence hit Punjabi Line area of Shillong have warned that if the local administration keeps insisting on their relocation, they will be compelled to move court.
“If the government continues with their pressure tactic, we will be forced to move the high court,” said Gurdip Singh, president of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Shillong.
A scuffle between a Khasi bus driver and a Punjabi woman had led to violence, including stone pelting in the area, early on 31 May forcing the administration to impose a curfew in the city that lasted for more than a week.
While local Khasis allege the area had transformed into a den of criminal activities that needs to be uprooted, Dalit Sikhs of Punjabi Line claim the area was given to their ancestors by the Syeim of Mylliem (local chieftain), and therefore rightfully belongs to the community.
To find a solution to the issue, a high-level committee was formed last month that says it wants to identify the kin of the Dalit Sikhs brought in by the British as manual scavengers about 160 years ago and those who came later.
The committee has proposed that the residents of Punjabi Line, many of whom are employees with the Shillong Municipal Board, be relocated and allotted government quarters.
However, the Sikhs are against the move. Last week, a group of women from the area came out holding placards to register their protest after the Shillong Municipal Board had sent a team to conduct a survey of the locality.
The team was met with resistance from residents, many of whom locked their doors and refused to talk to the civic officials, Shillong Times reported.
“What the government is doing is completely illegal,” Gurdip Singh said.
Stating that there are other Khasi-dominated localities nearby which congest the area, Singh says that the government has never taken any actions against those.
“Desh azaad ho gaya salo pehle, woh colony azaad nahin hui (The country got its independence years ago, but that colony is yet to get its independence),” a perturbed Gurdip told ThePrint.
“We don’t want third-class government quarters. We want the government to build us houses in the Punjabi Line area itself.” Gurdip added.
Khasi groups, however, are insisting on their location. Donald V. Thabah, president of the Khasi Students’ Union, alleges that the area has become a den of criminals.
“The national media has made it an issue between the Sikhs and the Khasis, whereas the ground reality is very different,” he said.
“If the government fails to take necessary actions for the relocation of the residents, we will have to agitate again,” he added.