Another Meghalaya-based militant outfit ready for talks

Shillong, Aug 14 (UNI) The Meghalaya-based proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) today reiterated that it was not averse to holding 'talks' with the government.

Proscribed on November 16, 2000, the HNLC was a product of a 1992 split in the Hynniewtrep A'chik Liberation Council, the first militant tribal outfit in the state. The tribal Khasi militant outfit was formed with an objective to fight for a 'sovereign Hynniewtrep homeland'.

''We are always ready to hold talks with the government on condition of sincerity,'' HNLC general secretary Cheristerfield Thangkhiew said in an e-mail on account of the outfit's 21st 'raising day'.

Last year, the tribal Khasi militant group suffered a major jolt after outfit chairman Julius K Dorphang gave up his armed struggle for a sovereign ''Hynniewtrep homeland''. Dorphang sneaked inside India from his hideout in Bangladesh and surrendered before then Chief Minister DD Lapang.

Incidentally, another militant outfit of the state-A'chik National Volunteers' Council (ANVC) - operating in Garo Hills with an aim to carve out ''Greater Garoland'', entered into a tripartite ceasefire agreement on July 23, 2004.

Last month, the Union Government extended the cease-fire with the ANVC for an indefinite period for the first time, unlike the earlier periodical review of the cease-fire with the militant group.

Earlier, emissary of the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) militant outfit Rev PBM Basaiawmoit had accused the Meghalaya government of not being sincere in its offer to bring leaders of the Khasi militant outfit to the negotiating table.

''The leaders of the HNLC, including 'general secretary' Cherishterfield Thangkhiew and 'Commander-in-Chief' Bobby Marwein, have agreed in letter and spirit to accept the Indian government's offer,'' Rev Basaiawmoit had told reporters here.

Dorphang, however, alleged that Thangkhiew and Marwein were the 'stumbling blocks' of the proposed peace process with the government.

The HNLC General Secretary said they were ''opposed to the Indian Political System which has trampeled the traditional rights of the people by virtue of forcibly asking the erstwhile chieftains to sign the 'Instrument of Accession''.

The HNLC maintained close links with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim--Issak Muivah (NSCN-IM) and Tripura based National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT). However, the Meghalaya police neutralised the close links after the state's Special Operation Team busted their hideout in the Narpuh reserve forest of Jaintia Hills district.

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