Residents of Punjabi Lane Shillong obtained a stay from the High Court

New Delhi, February 16:  The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has welcomed the decision of the Meghalaya High court staying dislocation of the Sikhs of Shillong without following due process of law and said that this decision will go a long way in securing justice for the community. It is notable that the Sikhs living in Shillong have been living there since the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The British took the Sikhs there, to work as manual scavengers, as early as 1863.

Hence came into existence, the Punjabi Lane, a separate residential colony of Sikhs in Shillong. The residents of the area claim that the local Syiem (head) of Mylliem (village) had given them the piece of land in 1853 to settle there permanently. This makes them residents of the area for the last 150 years. During the 1970s, Shillong district administration identified the Punjabi Lane as an illegal slum colony and issued an eviction order.

Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee

But the residents obtained a stay order from Meghalaya High Court in 1986. The conflict was revived once again last year in June. After violent clashes between the locally dominant tribe Khasi, and the Punjabis. The Punjabis once again faced the danger of eviction from the Punjabi Lane. DSGMC and SGPC volunteered to fight a case on their behalf, and today a judgement was given in the case.

In a statement released here today, the DSGMC working President Harmeet Singh Kalka and General Secretary Mr. Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that members of the Sikh community were unduly being targeted by the government and the local administration. They said that today’s order of the High court is a big victory for Sikh community facing danger of dislocation in Shillong.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa

They informed that the High Court judge Justice SR Sen has made it clear that the government cannot disturb them till the time civil courts are approached and title is decided and both the parties will be given an opportunity of hearing.  The Honourable Court has also given liberty to approach the courts in case the petitioners are aggrieved again. They said that Sikhs are residing in the area of Shillong since long time and if at local level any issue had arisen out, it was duty of the local administration and the government to sort it out and protect the right of minorities as enshrined in the Constitution.

But after failure of the Government and the administration, the Sikhs had to resort to court to get justice. Meanwhile Mr. Jagdeep Singh Kahlon, Chairman Legal Cell of the DSGMC has also thanked the legal team of Advocate Harpreet Singh Hora and Advocate Naginder Benipal for pursuing the battle on behalf of Sikh community of Shillong.