From CK Nayak
New Delhi: There are many memorials and graves of Bangladeshi freedom fighters in Meghalaya and other Northeastern states who laid down their lives during the horrendous civil war in that country.
But in the hilly terrain of Sunamganj’s Tahirpur upazila (sub-district), right at the foot of the Khasi Hills, there is the grave of a visionary leader of Meghalaya who dreamt of an independent Khasi state till his last breath. His “state” was made a part of the Indian Dominion and he was exiled.
Wickliffe Syiem, the Syiem Khynnah (deputy king) of Hima Nongstoin, vowed never to return to his own land nor to set foot on any other Indian territory, according to his family members still living in the neighbouring country. “If I wish to do so, I’ll go as a victor, not as a captive to surrender to the Indian colonial rulers,” Wickliffe would tell his family members.
The memorial of Wickliffe Syiem, the deputy king of Nongstoin state, one of 25 Khasi states of present day Meghalaya, stands at Rajai village in Tahirpur upazila of Sunamganj. Wickliffe, who fought for his state’s independence from the Indian government, lived in exile here till his death in 1988.
After Wickliffe vowed never to go back, the then Pakistan government permitted him to settle down in Rajai village, where he could be amidst others from his community. The village was historically part of the Khasi Hills. He felt it was like home, was married and settled down there.
After India attained independence Sardar Patel had visited these hills and used different means to get the Syiems of the Khasi states to sign the Instrument of Accession and the Annexed Agreement between December 15, 1947 and March 19, 1948, according to historians David R Syiemlieh and Helen Giri. The Standstill Agreement with these states was signed on August 17, 1948.
However, six other states did not sign the above Agreements and of them, Nongstoin declared independence on January 13, 1948. Sib Singh Syiem, Wickliffe’s uncle, was elected as president with deputy king Wickliffe as secretary of the state, historical records said.
Sib Singh Syiem was detained and Nongstoin was forced to sign the Instrument of Accession on March 19, 1948. Five other remaining states were also included in the Indian dominion eventually, historians say.
As Wickliffe was out of the state capital at the time, the Indian government barred his entry to the Hima. Hearing of the takeover, Wickliffe wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on March 20 in protest.
As per a copy of the letter which still exists Wickliffe urged Nehru to order the provincial Assam government to stop its activities in Nongstoin. As an exiled leader, he camped in Dhaka and on March 24, sent a telegram to then UN Secretary General Trygve Lie and even visited UN headquarters in New York to save the independence of his state.
Born on August 15, 1909, in Nongstoin, Wickliffe completed a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from a college in Baroda, Gujarat in 1937, and became the first engineer from the Khasi community.
After completing his post-graduation in London,
he joined as Attorney General of Nongstoin in 1940.
During the Second World War, he also served in the British Army as a wing commander. Wickliffe made a career as an engineer at the Fenchuganj Fertiliser Factory, Mitsubishi Motors Factory, and Joypurhat Sugar Mill in the then East Pakistan.
He was the chief engineer of the Tekerghat Limestone project at Tahirpur upazila before he retired in 1971. The once Deputy Syiem lived by his word of not returning to Nongstoin till the day he breathed his last in exile — on October 21, 1988.
The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) still observes the anniversary of Wickliffe Syiem on October 21 at his memorial site in Sohpian, Nongstoin.
Wickliffe is considered the founder of Hynniewtrep nationalism by the Khasi community.