Guwahati: The tripartite talks with the proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) will formally begin in the first week of June this year, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting in state capital Shillong. He told media that the first round of peace talks between the outlawed militant group HNLC and the state and central governments will begin in the first week of June this year. Chief Minister Sangma also informed that an informal meeting between Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and the members of the HNLC has already been held on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Hynniewtrep National Youth Front president and HNLC interlocutor Sadon K Blah said that the outfit has put forth conditions for the peace talks.
After the cabinet meeting, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told media persons, “It was decided and formally communicated that the formal talks with the HNLC will start in the first week of June. All the discussions that are taking place will take place through the interlocutor, so whatever discussions are there, he will be in a position to discuss. And of course, I have mentioned certain points that are there, and obviously, as a government, we will try to ensure that steps can be taken to ensure that they are comfortable.”
“An informal meeting took place between Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and the members of the HNLC on Tuesday where the political secretary, vice chairman, executive members and the interlocutor were present and it was decided and formally communicated that the formal talks with the HNLC will start in the first week of June this year. As the talks are starting, we will see how it goes forward and we are hopeful that we will be able to come to a positive solution," Chief Minister Sangma said.
The HNLC is a militant organisation operating in Meghalaya. It claims to represent the Khasi-Jaintia tribal people, and its aim is to free Meghalaya from the alleged domination of outsiders. It was proscribed on 16 November 2000, but the ban was later lifted before it was banned again in 2019. The HNLC primarily operates in the Khasi Hills region and has carried out a number of terror activities in Shillong.
Some of its camps were located in Bangladesh, mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts with the top HNLC leadership being based in Dhaka.
The Meghalaya government and the state police have accused HNLC of indulging in a number of illegal activities, including killing, abduction, robbery, arms smuggling, cattle smuggling and extortion in the Jaintia Hills coal belt. It has also been accused of circulating fake currency in the state, supported by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan.
HNLC has claimed that it has tried to help the Khasi people and to make society better. It launched Operation Kyllang (hurricane) to publicly punish rapists by torturing them and claimed to have reduced crime in the Khasi Hills. It has also been calling for a boycott of the Independence Day celebrations every year. Thr group also opposed the civil polls in Meghalaya, alleging that the elections would make the traditional tribal institutions powerless.
On the other hand, when asked about inputs about the outlawed militant organization Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) regrouping in the state, Chief Minister Sangma informed that the state government is verifying the claims.
“Talking about the GNLA, I have already mentioned that we have received a lot of intel on a daily basis based on different interconnections at different levels and hence sometimes we have to cross-check and double check and we need to go into more detail to find out how much truth is there in that particular intel so it’s a process that goes on every day, so why and how this came up we are obviously inquiring into the whole matter but as I have said there are multiple reports coming and the government takes action based on these multiple inputs but we don’t talk about it because it is internal to the police," Chief Minister Sangma said.