Mumbai Sikhs Ordered to Evacuate Flats by October 31

MUMBAI, Maharashtra—While the issue of Meghalaya state government’s forceful attempt to evict Sikhs from the Punjabi lane area of Shillong is still in the news, the community is going to come across an another such attempt by the Maharshtra state government. This time, Sikhs are being forcefully evicted from the Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar (GTBN) situated in the Mumbai’s Sion Koliwada.

As per information from local sources, the Mumbai’s municipal corporation has declared the 21 buildings of Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar as dangerous and unfit to live in and has ordered the flat owners to vacate their homes by October 31.

The municipal corporation has furthered secured an order from the Bombay High Court asking the residents to submit an undertaking confirming that they will move out.

Sharing the development with Sikh24, GTBN resident S. Raghbir Singh informed that their predecessors were allotted flats in Mumbai by the Indian government when they were forced to leave their homes in Pakistan during 1947’s partition. He added that about 1200 Sikh families were accommodated in Mumbai by the Indian government in 1957 after their eviction from Pakistan during 1947’s partition.

“Our predecessors were illiterate, so they didn’t care about getting the written assurance for permanent occupation of the land of flats allotted to them by the government at that time. But now after 60 years, the government is telling us the land is a state property so we should evict it by October 31,” he added.

S.Raghbir Singh further informed that 31 such colonies were given to refugees at that time and at present there are 2 schools, 1 college, 7 Gurdwaras and 3 Temples in these colonies.

87 years old S. Rawel Singh Khosla, who also migrated to India during 1947’s partition, told Sikh24 that his family owned 13 acres of fertile land in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province but after 1947’s partition they were helpless to live in a 230-square-foot room in Mumbai’s Sion Koliwada refugee camp. He said that the building, in which his 230 square foot flat lies, is in extremely critical condition, but he can’t move out as he doesn’t want to become a refugee again.       

S. Jaspal Singh Banga, who lives along with his family including ailing mother in one of these buildings, questioned what is surety that the government will give them back their property even if they leave under pressure being exerted on them?

Contemporary victims of 1947’s partition informed that the refugee Sikhs and Hindus had set up tents in and around the old military barracks in Sion Koliwada of Mumbai after migrating there. Later, the government built 25 four-floored buildings there and sold flats to 1200 families at the cost of Rupees 5830/-. It is learnt that refugee families became owner of flats, but the land, which initially belonged to the India president, later got conferred to the Maharashtra’s state government.