Guwahati: Banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) on Tuesday said that it is ready for peace dialogue without any preconditions.
HNLC general secretary-cum-publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw announced in a statement, “As of now we are ready to talk within the ambit of the Indian Constitution and we are ready to have talks without any preconditions. This is for the general information that the Standstill Agreement (SA) and Instrument of Accession (IOA) shall not be included. If the Government of India (GOI) is willing then we are ready to go for a dialogue.” Tuesday.
The council even demanded the government to speed up the appointment of an interlocutor.
After hearing several requests from elders and social organizations in recent days, he said the group has chosen to give peace a shot. “We have decided to come to a peaceful accord with the Government of Meghalaya (GOM) and the Government of India (GOI) after extensive conversation with certain elders recently,” Nongtraw stated.
The peace process, according to the HNLC commander, was stalled following the assassination of the outfit’s previous general secretary (L) Cherishterfield Thangkhiew in an alleged false encounter.
“His death was a source of great sadness in the Hyniewtrep region. “We lost a true leader, and his lessons and motivations will live on in us forever,” Nongtraw stated, adding, “(L) Bah Che was also in favour of the peace talks, and he was assigned the duty of conveying our message to the GOI.”
“We as an organisation of armed struggle, we keep the interest of our jaidbynriew as our sole priority,” he added, adding that the group is committed to preserving indigenous people’s rights and their territory.
People, especially NGOs and pressure organisations, would develop a stake in the peace process and become a part of the system to keep it going, according to the group.
“As several elders have promised us, the peace discussions will provide an ideal opportunity for the government to establish and strengthen peace in the region,” the statement stated.
“Our goal is to end this war, and at this point in time we feel that we can achieve anything we want through peaceful means provided the government’s sincerity,” Nongtraw added, urging the government to select an interlocutor right away to demonstrate its seriousness. We, the HNLC, agreed to conduct a dialogue with the GOM and the GOI after decades of confrontation and suffering in the hopes of acknowledging that a peaceful solution may be reached by putting aside all bitterness. We want to reclaim the Hyniewtrep people’s esteem.”
The statement further added that While it is long overdue we believe that opening and sustaining the space for a dialogue and consensus building will lead to the peaceful resolution of the age old conflict that has been going on for the last three decades. Now the ball is in the government court to decide whether it want to give peace a chance or to continue this conflict.
It may be mentioned that the council added that hence the appointment of an interlocutor at the earliest, before this conflict turns ugly the Government’s seriousness is the only solution.