Meghalaya to explore appointing mediator for HNLC talks
SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today said the government will explore the possibility of appointing a mediator for talks with the banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council that had favoured a political dialogue to end their struggle.
HNLC general secretary Cherishstarfield Thangkhiew had in a e-mailed statement yesterday favoured political dialogue, but rued that there was no initiative from the government. Terming the HNLC gesture as a “positive signal”, Sangma said, “We have always maintained that there is no issue that cannot be solved through a dialogue.”
“With enough positive indication coming from the group for talks, the government may also work on the modalities to further the process and identify a mediator,” Sangma said.
Sangma indicated that he will “share the input (content of the email)” with the Union Home Ministry and urge it to take necessary steps. “Our doors are always open and we are ready to initiate dialogue with the outfit to ensure lasting peace in the state,” Sangma told PTI over phone from New Delhi.
Asked if there would be any condition for the talks, the chief minister said, “It will have to be within the framework of the Constitution.” The HNLC is a product of a 1992 split. The outfit was proscribed on November 16, 2000 after a series of incidents of killing, extortion and kidnapping over the years.
In 2005, a church leader PBM Basaiawmoit tried to broker peace between the HNLC, born out of a 1992 split in the erstwhile Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation Council, and the government, but not much headway was made.
The group’s chairman Julius Dorphang had surrendered to the government on July 24, 2007, but its other leaders are still believed to be in Bangladesh.
Source: PTI