Shillong, April 23: The Harijan Panchayat Committee said on Sunday that the dwellers of the colony are the historical residents of the state.
Reacting to the statement of Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, in response to HPC’s letter to the authorities regarding the proposed relocation plan of Sikh residents, the Harijan Panchayat Committee secretary Gurjit Singh said, “It is a very casual and callous response and I am surprised that the deputy chief minister of a state should resort to stating facts in an incorrect manner.”
“We are always ready for talks and as mentioned in our earlier reply and it is a position which we have stated many times to the government and to the High Court of Meghalaya. We have stated on many an occasion that the solution to this vexed problem can be only through talks in a spirit of give and take as well as in recognising the rights of each and every citizen of the area, without pressure, duress and misrepresentation.”
The Deputy CM is saying that, “we will present details to the High Court.” I think, these details should have been presented earlier. The question that we have posed and to which the government has now reacted is “Why were details not presented earlier?”
According to Singh, it is unbecoming of the leader to misrepresent facts to the public through media.
“The blueprint presented to us is incomplete, there is no time line, there are residents living there, the proposed homes are pigeonholes, the question of title to the area to be given to families has not been specified. How can we play a blind game with the lives of hundreds of families -men, women and children”, said Gurjit Singh.
“It is another shocker that the Deputy CM, who had earlier recognised that we are not illegal settlers, is now saying, “How is it possible that they are staying there for 160 years?” May we remind the deputy chief minister and the people of Meghalaya that we are here since 1863 and we are in possession of authentic documents under the name and seal of the Syiem of Hima Mylliem. In a letter of 2008, the Syiem of Mylliem Darbar has said, inter alia, “…the plot of land was allotted to them long time back by the predecessors of Syiem of Hima Mylliem till today.” In another 1954 document, it is categorically mentioned that the land belongs to the residents of the Harijan Colony”, Singh said.
Also, there are many other historical references as to how ‘our forefathers were brought here by the then British army higher-ups from Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts of Punjab’, he added.
In fact, by virtue of the fact that we are here for more than two centuries, makes us also historical residents and by virtue of tradition and culture, we too become indigenous people,” said Singh.
“By asking them for an appropriate accommodation, we are demanding our rights and not seeking a merciful largesse from the government. Let it be known to everyone, loud and clear that we are legitimate residents of the Punjabi Lane”, Singh added.
