SHILLONG: The 350-odd families of minority Sikh community residing at Iewduh ( Punjabi Lane ), the epicentre of the violence that had shut down the hill station for four days, have vowed to defend their land which was donated to them by Khasi tribal chieftain (Syiem) two centuries ago."We have faced demands of our eviction from groups of locals and NGOs several times in the past. Even the government is trying to push us out of this land by issuing eviction notices. We Sikhs are law-abiding but we will protect our land and place of worship whenever there is a danger," said Gurjit Singh , the secretary of the local gurdwara.On Thursday morning, a minor tiff between a few Sikhs and a local Khasi driver, which was settled in a local police station, turned violent in the evening after a large number of locals swooped down in the area, seeking the eviction of Sikhs from the locality.On Monday, the state government decided to set up a high-level committee to look into the issue of relocating the Sikhs from Iewduh, also known as Sweepers' Colony, after a consultation with all political parties, village headmen and other groups. Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma said the issue of relocating them has been pending for a long time.Saying that the original land owner has not objected to their staying there and also not demanded their eviction, Singh added, "We have documents that show that the Syiem of Mylliem had donated this piece of land to the small Sikh community before 1863. According to tribal laws, a tribal can claim a plot of land which has been in his possession for six years. For a non-tribal, it is 30 years. We have been here for two centuries."The original area of the donated land, said Singh, was two acres."But one-fourth of it has already been taken away," he added. He said even the Gauhati high court had given a ruling in their favour in 1992. Though Sikhs live in various pockets of Shillong, it is the location of Punjabi Lane situated close to the heart of the city in Police Bazar that has become a "bane"."This is not just a piece of land where we live. We are religiously attached to it. We have built a gurdwara and even a church for the 20 Sikh families who converted to Christianity long ago. We haven't taken a single paisa from the government," he said.The previous Congress government had offered 180 flats to the Sikhs at a different location but they demanded houses for every family, 350 in all, and not just for some of them.Since the violence broke out, Singh and his neighbours had been passing sleepless nights as a large contingent of state police and central paramilitary force are guarding the locality and protecting them from attacks by stone-pelters. Though 10 security personnel have been injured in the process, they have maintained utmost restraint and limited their action to firing tear-gas shells only as instructed by the government.Singh said every every member of his community acknowledges the fact that it is because of these security personnel that none of them has been hurt and their properties are intact. But the members of the community are not very sure about the future. "What will happen to us when the security personnel are withdrawn? We want peace, not confrontation," he added.

Stay updated with all the Latest Shillong headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.