MINOR ALTERCATION – FAKE SM MESSAGES – RUMOURS – CLASHES ERUPTED:
An altercation between a Punjabi woman and Khasi bus driver on May 31 in
Shillong’s Punjabi Lane, followed by rumours on social media about the death
of a minor Khasi boy, triggered four days of intense clashes and curfew in
the city. Khasi protesters threw stones and petrol bombs at security personnel
after being prevented from entering the Punjabi settlement adjacent to Bara
Bazaar, Shillong’s commercial hub.
LONG STANDING DEMAND THAT RESIDENTS OF PUNJABI LANE BE
MOVED OUT OF CITY’S PRIME COMMERCIAL AREA: A demand to move the
residents of Punjabi Lane out of the city’s prime commercial area has been
hanging fire for at least three decades now. Mobile Internet services —
suspended at the height of the tensions — were restored on June 13, but cut off
again in many areas for 48 hours starting Saturday. Night curfew continues in
the city. While there have been no fresh clashes, tensions between the Khasis
and Punjabis continue to simmer just beneath the surface. What is the genesis
of this situation, and where is it headed?
Who are the Punjabis of
Shillong?
‘LOWER’ CASTE MAZHABIS BROUGHT FROM RURAL PUNJAB TO WORK
AS SAFAI KARAMCHARIS 150 YEARS AGO: The Sikhs, or “Punjabis”, of
Shillong have been residing there for more than a century. The numerically
dominant group, the Mazhabis — who are mentioned in multiple British
ethnological studies as people who were at the bottom of the social scale in
rural Punjab — were brought by colonial officials to serve as safai karmacharis
(sweepers) who would keep the hill city clean.
Most of those who were brought
belonged to Amritsar and Gurdaspur, and though it is difficult to put
specific dates to their arrival in the absence of written records, it is
generally agreed that they began to reach Shillong in the last decade of the
nineteenth century. They started out on foot from their villages in Punjab,
and a four-day journey by train to the banks of the Brahmaputra followed. They
then used a ferry to reach Amingaon in Guwahati, from where began the long
journey to Shillong — by bullock cart, until vehicular traffic started on the
road from Guwahati to Shillong in the second decade of the twentieth century.
RAMGARHIAS FOLLOWED MAZHABIS FROM PUNJAB TO SHILLONG:
The Ramgarhias, a composite caste of carpenters, blacksmiths and masons in
rural Punjab, followed the Mazhabis. They possibly reached Shillong around
1896 when they were commissioned to rebuild the British city damaged by a large
earthquake. The small group of Ramgharias that settled in Shillong in the early
decades of the twentieth century remained loyal to the colonial bureaucracy,
and were rewarded by regular contract jobs.
SONIARS CAME FROM TODAY’S PAKISTAN IN 1947: The
other group from Punjab who came to Shillong were the Soniars or goldsmiths,
who traced their origins to Abbottabad and Rawalpindi in what is now Pakistan.
This group came in the aftermath of Partition in 1947.
There are no concrete estimates
of the numbers of people who were brought from Punjab. Some indication may be
available in the Shillong Municipal Board’s old records, but those documents
are not accessible to researchers.
Why did the British seek
labour from faraway Punjab?
THESE SECTIONS HAD BEEN SERVING BRITISH WELL AS CLEANERS,
ARTISANS AND ALSO IN ARMY – GOOD IMPRESSION IN BRITISH EYES: It is
likely that the sweepers first came with a British military contingent which
had earlier served in Punjab, and had been happy with their services. From the
time of Lord Lawrence, Viceroy of India from 1864-69, Punjab had been
perceived by many colonial officials as a model province that provided, besides
many kinds of services and goods, a large chunk of the British Indian Army.
A sizeable number of Mazhabis too, had been serving the British armed forces
since the Great Revolt of 1857.
MAZHABIS WERE GIVEN ACCOMODATION IN BARA BAZAAR SO THAT
THEY COULD BE NEAR TO THEIR WORK AND BE MONITORED: In Shillong, the
Mazhabis were initially given accommodation close to the military cantonment.
In the early twentieth century, on the recommendation of local military
officials, many Mazhabis were recruited by the Shillong Municipal Board.
Besides sweeping the city’s streets, the Mazhabis carried night soil from
private and official residences and offices. The Municipal Board allowed the
Mazhabis to reside in the Bara Bazaar and Laitmakhara areas of the city, so
they could closely monitor their daily work.
What explains the Khasis’ deep
distrust of the Punjabis now?
KHASIS LOOKED DOWN UPON WORKS THAT MAZHABIS DID, AND
LATTER WERE KEEN TO START ANEW IN A NEW AREA: Initially, local Khasis
were less enthusiastic about doing the work that the Mazhabis did. Having made
the long journey to Shillong, the Mazhabis saw an opportunity to make a fresh
start in a new land, breaking free of the social degradation and bondage of
their rural homeland. Over time, as the ranks of the Mazhabis swelled in the
Municipal Board, they came to dominate certain kinds of jobs.
AS KHASIS GRADUALLY MONOPOLISED CERTAIN TYPE OF JOBS AND
ALSO ESTABLISHED PERMANENT RESIDENCY – THEIR PRESENCE STARTED TO PINCH THE
KHASIS: Successful and enterprising minority communities often end up
upsetting the majority in a range of social and historical situations. Over
time, as Khasis found themselves being squeezed out of a part of the job
market, their anxieties manifested themselves in suspicions, hostility, and a
hardening awareness of dissimilar identities. The Khasis saw the Mazhabis
as a community of outsiders who practise a different faith, speak in a
different language, and dominate a semi-governmental job market over which
they have no control. There was also the realisation that unlike the affluent
Soniars, the Mazhabi Sikhs were unlikely to leave Shillong — not only
because they had nowhere to go, but also because they had developed occupancy
rights over their residential holdings by virtue of uninterrupted residence for
over a century.
WHILE MAZHABIS STILL CANNOT ACQUIRE PROPERTY, THEY HAVE
HAD UPWARD SOCIAL MOBILITY AND ARE QUITE INTEGRATED INTO KHASI CULTURE: Punjabi
Lane is now in the heart of Shillong city, and the younger generations of
Mazhabis have moved on from the degrading menial jobs their forefathers did, to
driving cars, setting up mobile repair shops, etc. While strict laws
against transfer of land to non-tribals prevent them from acquiring property
elsewhere in the city, they are not completely unintegrated in the local
society. Some Mazhabis speak Khasi, enjoy Khasi food, and a few are even
married to Khasis and have converted to Christianity.
How is this situation likely
to evolve now?
The tensions between the Khasis
and Punjabis isn’t new, and unless current equations of social and economic
power change significantly, any possibility of reconciliation between the two
communities appears remote. Largescale
investment of economic resources to create wider and more diverse economic
opportunities will help both sides, besides improving the living
conditions of the Mazhabis.
Credit: Indian Express Explained
(https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/what-fuelled-the-fire-in-shillong-5221728/)
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