Former militant and current Tura MDC Bernard N Marak has bemoaned what he said is the continued lack of implementation of a peace deal between the central and state governments with the ANVC and ANVC-B rebel groups in 2014.
According to Marak, now a state vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Garos have been betrayed by the Congress Party but the same continues now even though the BJP is firmly in command at the central level and part of the ruling coalition in Meghalaya.
Marak said that many surrendered rebels have not been given their promised rehabilitation packages “even after multiple rounds of verification”. Part of the agreement also covered the transfer of certain responsibilities from the state government to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) but this has also not been accomplished. The monitoring committee, mandated to meet every six months, has not been convened since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, he added. Moreover, the state government has failed to constitute the state-level monitoring committee as decided and the state finance department commission, as stipulated in the agreement.
“It is disheartening to note that funds meant for the ADCs have reportedly been diverted
or delayed through bureaucratic channels, undermining the spirit of the agreement,” Marak said in a letter to the central government. “The long-pending constitutional amendment to expand ADC seats remains unaddressed, further eroding the trust of the community and former cadres in the government’s commitment.”
The MDC called on the central government to convene a meeting of the central-level monitoring committee in Tura as soon as possible. “The continued delay in implementing the agreed terms is being perceived as a betrayal of the Tripartite Agreement and risks extinguishing the hope and goodwill that the Garo people have placed in the Union government,” he concluded.
