Harijan Committee rejects Meghalaya HLC Decision; “We will fight for our rights till the day we die.”
The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) has rejected the High-Level Committee’s (HLC) suggestions to relocate the Harijan Colony from Iew Mawlong, stating that they are willing to die but not relocate. The Committee further stated that the case is still under examination and that the government’s attempt to seize the land at Harijan Colony is illegal.
“We will fight for our rights till the day we die.” We will die for our land, but we will not allow the Meghalaya government to take any illegal, unlawful, unethical, or unjust action,” HPC secretary Gurjit Singh said in response to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s statement that the government would take possession of the land at Iew Mawlong within a week.
“The subject is sub-judice in the Supreme Court of India, and the Meghalaya Government would be committing a breach of protocols if it insists on moving ahead with its illegal plans,” Singh added, referring to the recently submitted HLC report.
“The so-called disputed 2.5 acres of land was given to our forefathers by the then Syiem of Hima Mylliem, and we are the genuine proprietors of it.” No one else has any claim to our property,” he stated.
“We don’t understand why the administration is in such a rush when the Meghalaya High Court ordered a status quo on April 9, 2021, following a series of lawsuits,” he said.
Process T Sawkmie, the Opposition Chief Whip, and Mawlai MLA urged inhabitants of Harijan Colony to help the government remove illegal squatters.
Sawkmie stated that the government has provided them with housing and that they must work together for the sake of peace and harmony.
He also praised the NPP-led MDA Government for deciding to remove illegal settlers from the Colony, noting that the Colony remains fenced and that movement of persons is restricted following the breakdown of law and order in the area in 2018.
