Shillong Sikhs get more time to submit papers

Tribune News Service
Kolkata, July 24

Three cases slated to come up in the Meghalaya High Court on August 28 hold the key to the much-needed relief sought by the Sikhs of Shillong's Harijan Colony, or Punjabi Lane area.

On Tuesday, the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) gave a fresh notice asking the residents to provide by August 30 the details about their residence in the locality. The prescribed format includes a column on the “period of stay” which has to be backed by “document of proof in support”.

“The SMB has no right to ask us about the Harijan Colony. The Syiem (tribal chief) had given us the land. The colony does not belong to the SMB,” Gurjit Singh, secretary of the Harijan Colony Panchayat, said over the phone from Delhi. According to him, the settlement of Sikhs in Shillong dates back to the period before 1863.

Attempts — including a full-blown riot between the local Khasis and Sikhs last year — to evict the residents of Harijan Colony are a regular feature of the otherwise picturesque Meghalaya capital. The latest attack on the Punjabi Lane Sikhs came in the form of notices given to them by the SMB on May 31, asking the residents to prove by July 3 their ownership of the land or building they were staying in.

Tuesday’s notice is a continuation of the last notice. No resident of Harijan Colony complied with the May 31 notice. Following Tuesday’s notice, Gurjit Singh left for Delhi where he has been confabulating with Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee leaders and others and exploring various options, including legal options.

Court holds the key 

Three cases will come up before the Meghalaya High Court on August 28:

• A contempt plea filed by the Harijan Colony Panchayat against the SMB CEO for issuing a relocation notice disregarding a HC order
• A review petition filed by state govt challenging the HC order which said the land ownership must be decided by a civil court first
• A petition by Harijan Colony headman Billu Singh regarding a 1954 pact between the local tribal chief (Syiem) and SMB