Unhappy with Punjab for giving ₹60L relief for Shillong Sikhs: Meghalaya minister

We request the Punjab government not to add fuel to the fire...this is nothing, but misleading people. Not a single stone was thrown at the school or the gurdwara. HAMLETSON DOHLING, urban affairs minister, Meghalaya

SHILLONG:FIVE days after the Punjab cabinet approved ₹60 lakh compensation to the Sikh community against damages caused to their properties during June riots earlier this year, Meghalaya urban affairs minister Hamletson Dohling urged the Punjab government to reconsider its decision.

“We are unhappy with the decision and we request them (the Punjab government) not to add fuel to the fire,” Dohling told the Press Trust of India. Of ₹60 lakh sanctioned by the Punjab cabinet, ₹50 lakh is earmarked for the reconstruction of the Khalsa Middle School, as the building was declared unsafe. The rest of the amount would be given to Sikhs whose shops and trucks were damaged in the riots.

Trouble had began in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, when an altercation between a local bus driver and Sikh women careened out of control after initially being contained by the police in the Punjabi Lane area.

An inflammatory and fake Whatsapp message on some Khasi boys being killed is believed to have intensified hostilities to the point that the army had to be called in. The entire area also stayed under curfew for over a month.

“The decision is nothing, but to mislead the people of the nation because not a single stone was thrown at the school or the gurdwara during the protest in June,” Dohling added.

He added that a high-level committee appointed by the Meghalaya government headed by deputy chief minister Prestone Tyngsong was taking into consideration all aspects of the case and was trying its best to solve the issues amicably.

He claimed that the Meghalaya police had handled the situation and all efforts are on to end the problems there (Punjabi Lane) once and for all.

“Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma will soon speak to his Punjab counterpart in this regard,” he added.