Shillong, Oct 20: The outlawed Hynñiewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has claimed that persons arrested in connection to the recent recovery of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) were not its members.
Earlier, the HNLC had claimed responsibility for planting a 4.7 kg IED on October 11 near the residence of former MLA Nehlang Lyngdoh in Umsning.
While police have not revealed any details of the case and arrests made, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had said six persons were held in connection to the case. He had questioned the validity of the claims made by the HNLC and to clarify the specific compromises made by authorities against the indigenous community.
“The statement made by Deputy Chief Minister in-charge of Home (Police), Prestone Tynsong, is nothing but another display of the government’s arrogance and hypocrisy. It is ironic that those who speak of peace are the very ones creating war through oppression. While the State pretends to keep its “door open” for talks, it continues to kick down the doors of innocent Hynniewtrep youth, especially in Ri-Bhoi District, under fabricated accusations of having links with the HNLC,” the outfit said.
The HNLC said, “The arrests are nothing more than state-sponsored harassment, a deliberate attempt to create fear, spread confusion, and justify the government’s failure to resolve the real issues facing our land.”
The outfit claimed that some youth who were just released from jail have been re-arrested again, citing that police are being used as “political tools” to break the spirit of the people.
The HNLC said peace talks will not hold any value and challenged the government to resolve the long-pending interstate and international border disputes. “We have seen this same script before — false promises, endless delays, and cowardly excuses, just like the Them Metor issue, where promises were made, meetings were held, and deadlines were extended endlessly, yet nothing concrete was ever done. The government kept postponing despite being only a state subject. Such acts only expose the government’s lack of political will and honesty,” it added.
The HNLC further said, “We are not interested in sitting at a table surrounded by betrayal. The government must understand that peace cannot be achieved by persecuting the innocent and protecting the corrupt.”
Demanding the government to stop harassment of youth if it is serious about having a dialogue the HNLC accused it of using peace as a “mask for political control”.
