Meghalaya's capital Shillong has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the past five days. Clashes erupted in Shillong's Punjabi Lane that is also known as the Sweepers Colony in the city, on Thursday between the people of the Khasi tribe and Dalit Sikhs living there.
Not too many people living outside Shillong know that the hilly northeast Indian city has a separate residential colony of Sikhs. They first moved into the city even before the 1857 revolt happened. The British expanded their footprints all over India and set up their bases in Shillong during the 1850s.
The British had brought Dalits from Punjab for manual scavenging as the locals would not do the job for the Civic and Military Sanitaria that they established in Shillong. The residents of Punjabi Lane claim that the local Syiem (head) of Mylliem (village) had given them the piece of land in 1853 to settle there permanently.
They also claim that the Syiem of Mylliem had confirmed the grant of land for permanent settlement in a 2008-letter to the Meghalaya State Electricity Board chairman.
The letter said that the land was given to Dalits from Punjab after an agreement between the Raja of Mylliem and the British administration was reached. The pact was signed on December 10, 1863. This means that the Dalit Sikhs have lived in Shillong's Punjabi Lane for over 150 years.
So, What Is The Problem Now?
Syiem is a public authority under the jurisdiction of the Khasi Hill Autonomous District Council and acts on local, judicial and administrative matters. A word of acknowledgement from the Syiem of Mylliem should be the stand of law. But this is not the case.
The Punjabis, as the residents of the Sweepers Colony are called in Shillong now, continued to be employed as cleaners in the Shillong Municipal Board, Cantonment Board, state government offices, hospitals and by the police department. No sign of trouble was seen till the 1980s when Meghalaya started putting curbs on manual scavenging.
There was a parallel development during the 1970s. The Shillong district administration had identified the Punjabi Lane as an illegal slum colony and issued an eviction order. The residents moved the Meghalaya High Court, which stayed the eviction order in 1986.
A curb on manual scavenging led to the loss of jobs for the residents and also the window for their assimilation with the dominant Khasi tribal population. Several Khasi outfits including the Federation of Khasi Garo Jaintia People and Khasi Students' Union led campaigns for eviction of Punjabi settlers from the area.
The Khasi groups claim that the Punjabi Lane has become a den for criminals and anti-social elements. The anti-Punjabi sentiment is so strong in the Meghalaya capital that during the Assembly election the winning candidate from the North Shillong constituency, Adelbert Nongrum allegedly "promised to evict" the Punjabis from the area.
With mounting pressure for eviction, the Dalit Sikhs of Punjabi Lane also approached the National Commission of Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Minorities. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was also filed. But all that has not deterred the Punjabi baiters in Shillong.
The residents allege that the administration and local politicians want them to be shifted to the outskirts of Shillong so that the land could be used for commercial purposes.