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Meghalaya : HNLC in tentative talks mode

	November 07, 2005

It appears to be the season of peace talks in the Northeast and one more recalcitrant militant group, the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) of Meghalaya, has had a change of heart.



The slow but steady progress of the peace process between New Delhi and its Garo counterpart, the Achik National Volunteers Council, has prompted the HNLC to send feelers to the Centre about its willingness to finally start a peace process.



The HNLC’s move comes close on the heels of New Delhi’s decision to extend its ceasefire with the ANVC by another year.



The ANVC-Delhi truce took effect in July last year, but a formal dialogue has yet to begin. The outfit recently reminded the D.D. Lapang government about the need to start ‘a political dialogue’ on its demands for a ‘greater Garoland’ without further delay.



A highly-placed source said the HNLC had realised that it needs to join the talks bandwagon or risk a public backlash. He claimed that the Khasi group recently sent messages to Union Home minister Shivraj Patil through state government channels.



The outfit’s leadership neither confirmed nor denied reports of a possible peace process with Delhi by the beginning of next year. The source said he did not have details of the peace initiative, but held out hope for a breakthrough soon. “Things have been working in favour of peace processes in the North-east of late. “We are sure something is happening, but right now we have no confirmation from either end”, he said.



An intelligence official said representatives of the state government and New Delhi were in constant touch to concretise the peace initiative. ‘When everything happens according to plan, a ceasefire pact can be signed without any hitch.’







Director-General of Police W.R. Marbaniang, who visited the capital recently, said a meeting between HNLC leaders and New Delhi could be arranged.





Garos threaten fresh agitation



In another political development in Meghalaya, the Garo Students’ Union (GSU) has decided that it is planning to revive its non-cooperation movement to pressure the Garo hills MLAs into resigning. The union wants all the 24 local MLAs to resign in protest against the state government’s decision to amend the Meghalaya Board of School Education Act, 1973.



Sources close to the GSU leadership said an indefinite non-cooperation movement may be launched from Monday if the MLAs failed to put in their papers before then.





CM’s warning ignored



The GSU ignored Chief Minister D.D. Lapang’s warning of stern action. Lapang had warned the GSU and several NGOs of stern action if they resorted to agitation and disrupted the law and order. He also warned against anyone trying to coerce elected representatives from Garo hills to quit their posts. However, it does not seem to have had much of an impact on the GSU.



The GSU has called an 11-hour agitation from 5 am to 4 pm on Monday and will follow it up with more programmes later. The GSU took the decision at a public rally held at Chandmari ground in Tura.







RSS hijacks BJP poll strategies



The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is all set to make its presence felt in the troubled north-east. As a first step, the RSS has decided to isolate the BJP with which it has developed serious ideological differences. The RSS has decided to appoint its full-timers drawn from the Sangh to give final touches to their strategies for the ensuing Assembly elections in Assam, the largest state in the region.



Sources in the BJP said full-timers were closeted for over three days at a training camp with party general secretary Sanjay Joshi, who has an RSS background, at Amingaon on the outskirts of the city. The training concluded on the historic Deepavali Day on November 1.



During the session, they were briefed about various aspects of the party’s poll strategies and the role to be played by the RSS-brigade in the elections.



Altogether 80 full-timers, including some from the party’s West Bengal unit, attended the training camp, which was kept under wraps. The camp was also out of bounds for the general BJP functionaries.



The exact number of full-timers from the neighbouring state attending the training could not be known.



According to BJP sources, with the increased influence of the RSS in party affairs, the full-timers were only expected to play a more crucial role in the forthcoming elections in Assam.



‘With Advaniji all set to retire in December, the RSS control over the party will only increase and the same could naturally be felt in the elections here,’ said a senior BJP leader.



The full-timers, including those who came from West Bengal, were asked to work at the grassroots level in the Assembly constituencies. ‘We will be stationed permanently in the constituency entrusted to us right from the day of issue of election notification and assist the party leaders and candidates in campaigning,’ one of them said.



Apart from assisting in campaigning, the RSS brigade will also don the robe of ‘moral police’ to ensure that candidates did not drift from the Sangh ideology in a bid to woo voters.



Apart from this, they would also have a major say in ticket distribution.