SHILLONG, Oct 24: Amid an ongoing imbroglio over the Harijan Colony, the Nongkhlaw clan has offered to assist the state government in resolving the issue even as it pointed out that the government would be able to prove its ownership over the land if had continued to pay rent to the clan for its land at Them Iew Mawlong.
“The state government had discontinued to pay the rent to the clan in 1977. If it had continued it would have been able to prove its ownership,” the members of Nongkhlaw clan stated while speaking to a section of reporters on Sunday.
Lauding the efforts of the state government for its joint efforts with the Hima Mylliem to relocate the residents of Harijan Colony in Them Iew Mawlong, a member of the clan from Laitkor, Sonimai Nongkhlaw, said that the clan is ready to assist the government, if invited to resolve the matter once and for all.
Sonimai said that the clan owns a large strip of land in and around Shillong city.
According to her, the government paid rent of Rs 50 to the clan until 1977 when it stopped. “We had impressed upon the government to continue to pay the rent. But the authorities did not pay any heed to our request,” Nongkhlaw said.
On the other hand, Sonimai Nongkhlaw has urged upon the acting Syiem of Hima Mylliem, Ainam Manik Syiem, to invite them to examine the land documents which they possess.
“We still have the copy of the agreement which the clan had signed with the then Queen of England in 1863. The government does not have the right to claim ownership over the land at Them Iew Mawlong since they were just tenants,” a member of the clan said.
According to her, the clan decided to give the plot of land to the Syiem of Hima Mylliem after the state government had been unable to remove the residents who were living in Them Iew Mawlong. “The Syiem of Mylliem does not own this plot of land since they are only the custodian. But we later decided to give the ownership to the Hima Mylliem over this plot of land to resolve the issue with the state government,” she said.
The eviction of residents from Harijan Colony had once again gained currency after the High Level Committee of the state government, constituted to find an acceptable solution on the issue, submitted its report to the government on September 28.
Following this the Cabinet decided that the government would take ownership of the land and shift the employees of the Shillong Municipal Board to the temporary location at Bishop Cotton Road.