Punjabi Lane settlers have a month to prove legality of stay

A High Level Committee (HLC) set up by the Meghalaya government Friday gave one month's time to the residents of Punjabi Lane here to prove that they had settled in the area legally.

Punjabi Lane is inhabited by people from Punjab, who were brought to Shillong around 200 years ago by the British to work as cleaners and sweepers. An incident of assault in the area in May last year had resulted in group clashes following which it was put under curfew for over a month.

"We have decided in a meeting to give one month's time to the settlers to submit their documents to prove legality of their stay. They will submit the papers to the chief executive officer of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB)," said Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who is the head of the HLC.

The SMB was instructed to create an inventory of properties following a survey in the area and public notices will be issued to all the settlers in this regard, he said.

The settlers had refused to cooperate with the authorities during the survey conducted last year and "this is the second and the last opportunity to be given to them," the deputy chief minister said.

Of the hundreds of people at Punjabi Lane, only 184 employees of the SMB and government departments and their families have been identified as legal settlers, official sources said adding that there was a demand from various quarters to relocate the Punjabis from the area.

The local Punjabi community in December last year had urged Governor Tathagata Roy to disband the HLC for allegedly issuing orders with an intent to displace them.

On May 29, 2018, clashes erupted when a bus driver and his friend were attacked at the Punjabi Lane area and they received injuries. As rumours of the assaulted victims dying in hospital spread on social media, people attacked the settlers following which the entire area was put under curfew for over a month.

Following this, a delegation of the Punjab government visited the city and interacted with the settlers. The delegation members also met Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.

However, the Meghalaya administration expressed unhappiness after the Punjab government sanctioned Rs 60 lakh as compensation to the community members who were affected by the violence.