SHILLONG, Oct 8: As anticipated, the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) has rejected the recommendations of the High Level Committee (HLC) on relocation of the Harijan Colony from Iew Mawlong and asserted that they were willing to die but will not relocate. The Committee also made it clear that the matter is sub-judice and the government move to take possession of the land at Harijan Colony is illegal.
“We will fight for our rights till our last breath. We will die for our land but will not allow any illegal, unlawful, unethical and unjust action by the Meghalaya Government,” HPC secretary Gurjit Singh said while reacting to the statement of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma that the government will take possession of the land at Iew Mawlong within a week.
Challenging the recently submitted HLC report, Singh said, “The matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court of India and the Meghalaya Government would be committing a breach of procedures if it insists on going ahead with its illegal plans.”
“We are the legitimate owners of the so-called disputed 2.5 acres of land, as it was gifted to our ancestors by the then Syiem of Hima Mylliem. No one else has the right to our land,” he added.
“The present Syiem of Hima Mylliem is being pressurized by granting him ownership of a large chunk of the land. Under local laws too, he too has no authority to retake a gift given by his predecessors.”
“The tripartite agreement between the Syiem of Hima Mylliem, Urban Affairs department and the Shillong Municipal Board has no legal locus standi and is patently illegal,” he added.
Referring to the Cabinet decision, Singh said, “It is ironic that the Cabinet has failed to appreciate the genesis of the case, which is that the poor residents who have served their state for long are now being made victims of forcible eviction under the pressure of land mafia and for the simple reason that the then inaccessible area has now become prime property.”
“We fail to understand why the government is in such a hurry when a status quo has been ordered by the Meghalaya High Court on April 9, 2021, after a series of litigations,” he questioned.
Singh pointed out that the High Court had also ordered status quo on the activities of the HLC which was formed on June 4, 2018 and which submitted its report to the state government on September 28. “In view of the order of Justice SR Sen of the Meghalaya High Court on February 15, 2019, saying that the title deed of the Punjabi (Harijan) Colony has to be settled by filing a title suit and not through any unilateral decision of the Meghalaya government,” he said.
Pointing out that since the impasse in 2018, after several visits and hearings, the National Commission for Minorities, the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis had also ordered status quo and no relocation of anyone from that area, he said, “The claim of the Meghalaya Government that they will act on the findings of the High Level Committee on relocating government employees and others from the area is a clear violation, among other things, of these orders too.”
The HLC was constituted by the state government on June 4, 2018 to find a feasible solution for relocation of Harijan Colony from Iew Mawlong following clashes that spiralled into a violent unrest that crippled life in the city for weeks.
As per the recommendation of the HLC, the present SMB office at Bishop Cotton Road will be shifted to the old Meghalaya Basin Development Authority office opposite the existing location and the employees of the SMB will be relocated from Iew Mawlong to the staff quarters located on the SMB office premises. Staff of other government departments will be relocated to suitable locations to be identified by the concerned department.
Opposition Chief Whip and Mawlai MLA, Process T Sawkmie urged residents of Harijan Colony to cooperate with the government in its bid to remove illegal settlers from the colony.
Sawkmie said the government has arranged quarters for them and they must cooperate for the sake of peace and harmony.
He also lauded the NPP-led MDA Government for taking the decision to remove illegal settlers from the Colony and pointed out that following the deterioration of law and order in the area in 2018, the Colony continues to be barricaded and movement of people remains restricted in the area.