SHILLONG, JULY 10: The union government has formally indicated to the Meghalaya government not to pursue any further negotiation with the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) operating in the five districts of Garo Hills District.
Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma told reporters on Thursday, “The centre has formally indicated that we should not pursue further any negotiation with GNLA.”
It may be recalled that based on the proposal for dialogue put forth by the GNLA earlier this year, the state government had submitted the proposed names of interlocutors to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
According to the chief minister the decision by the union government not to pursue the dialogue issue with the GNLA was an outcome of the repeated crimes committed by the outfit. “I would look at that the stand of the union government on the backdrop of the observation made on the basis of criminal activities,” he stated.
The chief minister reminded that the state government had on number of occasions maintained that all insurgent and militant organization including terrorist organization should stop all their criminal activities if they wanted to engage in dialogues.
“Despite our repeated reminders, the organizations continued to indulge in various criminal activities including killing and crimes against women and other helpless people,” the chief minister said.
The chief minister, however, maintained that it is time for the all the militant groups to stop all criminal activities and join mainstream. He appealed, “It is therefore necessary for these outfits to start paving the way for permanent peace and progress of the state by surrendering and coming over ground and look at opportunities of how to become responsible in creating positive environment for the welfare of the people whose interest they profess to be representing.”
The chief minister said it is an opportune time for the GNLA to give up arm struggle and look at any kind of positive signal from the state government as he assured that the state government will always explore ways to allow them to surrender to ensure peace and prosperity prevails in the state.-By Our Reporter
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