HNLC threat
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and protection from the Sikh community outside the state following the threat from HNLC.
In a letter addressed to the chief minister on Monday, the committee wanted the state government to ensure security to the residents in view of the threat.
Besides, the committee also maintained that there is nothing wrong if social and political leaders in Punjab help the people of Harijan Colony.
In a separate statement issued here, the headman of Harijan Colony, Billu Singh said, “The HNLC should not worry about intervention of Punjabis.”
He further said, “Sikhs have a large heart and we will be happy to request Sikhs in Punjab to help people from this region to settle there in case someone chooses to.”
The committee has also appealed to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandkhak Committee, Amritsar, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and the Punjab government to respond to their call for assistance and protection.
In view of the HNLC’s threat to take action against the people of Harijan Colony, Singh said, “We are only protecting the legitimate fundamental rights of the people of the Punjabi Lane area.”
He went on to add that the attempt by the HNLC is to stop the committee from initiating proceedings of contempt against the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) which has issued notices to the people of Harijan Colony even though there is a stay by the High Court, the National Commission for Minorities and the National Human Rights Commission.
Singh said the HNLC is misleading the people of the state through false propaganda and added that the people of the colony have been staying there for more than 200 years.
The committee also dismissed the HNLC’s allegations of rich, lavish lifestyle of the residents as “hogwash” and maintained that the people of the Colony are not outsiders.
Pertaining to the HNLC’s statement that the colony is a den and full of criminals, he said there has been no anti-social activity or criminal activity by the residents of the area and termed the allegations of HNLC as “mere insinuations against us.”
Singh added that the SMB has all the details that it wants from the area and the survey was done a year ago and 70 per cent of the residents of the area are employees of the SMB.
He said the notices of the SMB are an attempt to overawe and browbeat them into accepting the “illegal orders of the SMB and the High Level Committee as well as the Urban Affairs Department.”