Shillong, April 20: The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) today said that the proposal of the government was “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”
HPC general secretary, Gurjit Singh informed that they have submitted an exhaustive 6-page reply to the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Meghalaya and to other concerned departments on the blueprint proposed by the Meghalaya Government for relocation of the residents of Harijan Colony.
The HPC letter reads, “There are serious lacunae, sweeping and undesirable conclusions in the approach and attitude of the High-Level Committee of the Meghalaya government.”
“We are absolutely devastated that since the formation of the new government, ministers, MLAs and certain groups have been making unnecessary remarks saying that the whole issue would be resolved within the month of April. What magical trick do they have up their sleeve to resolve the issue within days? The matter is sub- judice and they are only paying lip service to respect for the judiciary. We will not buckle under political duress.”
“We have attended meetings of the government in good faith but the government is resorting to misinformation and disinformation through the media and at the meetings, the only attitude is to overawe us into submission to their proposal. The language of the political leadership is one of intimidation. They are putting our lives and properties at risk and making us vulnerable,” said HPC secretary Gurjit Singh.
The HPC has strongly alleged that the “entire exercise is an ill-founded relocation theory, which actually compels the resident citizens of the Punjabi Lane (Harijan Colony) to forego their rights, title and interest over whatever small land portion in the colony and to accept the prisons cells like accommodation being offered in the proposed Blueprint.”
Speaking to the media, HPC secretary Gurjit Singh reiterated that, “our original demands presented in the “Eight-point resolution” still stand and we will not buckle under political duress merely because it is convenient to the government to do so.