Editor
In Short: Residents of Punjabi Lane in Shillong have accepted the Meghalaya government's blueprint for their relocation to land owned by the Shillong Municipal Board. The decision comes after a previous proposal was rejected. Punjabi Lane is a settlement of Sikh homes with a historical background. The relocation issue has been ongoing since 2018, but now there is hope for a resolution.
Punjabi Lane, also known as the Sweepers Colony, is a residential settlement in Shillong consisting of around 350 Sikh homes on a 3.5-acre plot. The Sikh community settled in Shillong even before the 1857 revolt in India. These Dalit Sikhs were brought by the British from Punjab for manual scavenging, as the local population refused to perform the job for the Civic and Military Sanitaria established by the colonial government in Shillong. The residents claim that the land they settled on was granted to them in 1853 by the local Syiem (head) of Mylliem village.
In 1986, the Shillong district administration issued an eviction order for Punjabi Lane, classifying it as an illegal slum colony. However, the order was stayed that same year following a legal challenge by the residents in the Meghalaya High Court. The situation escalated in 2018 when a parking dispute triggered an ethnic conflict between the Punjabi Lane residents and the Khasi community, resulting in tensions between the two groups.
The Khasi Students' Union (KSU) accused the Punjabi Lane residents of being troublemakers who harassed the Khasi people. The clashes prompted the Shillong Municipal Board to conduct a verification exercise to identify legal residents in Punjabi Lane, which identified 184 families as legal settlers. Subsequently, a high-level committee was formed by the state government in June 2018 to address the relocation issue. Since then, there have been ongoing discussions between the government and the residents regarding the relocation plan.
In April 2023, the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) expressed the residents' desire to live with dignity and honor on the land of their ancestors, emphasizing the importance of a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution that respects their fundamental rights. With the acceptance of the blueprint by the residents, the case is scheduled to be heard again in three weeks' time, with hopes that the parties involved can finally resolve this long-standing issue and bring closure to the matter.