The outlawed Hynñiewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) militant group announced today that it is ready to sit down for peace talks with the state and central governments without pre-conditions.
The HNLC had previously been resolute on its demand for any negotiations to include the subjects of the Standstill Agreement and Instrument of Accession and Annexation, which brought the erstwhile Khasi states into the Indian Union following independence in 1947. The militant group, which sent out a press release today, did not, however, mention whether they would consider relinquishing arms and armed attacks.
The HNLC has claimed responsibility for planting three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Shillong since August last year and others in Jaiñtia Hills prior to that. The most recent exploded in the heart of the state capital on January 30 but thankfully no injuries were reported, though there was some light damage to commercial property.
Ostensibly thanks to the requests of “elders and some social organisations”, the HNLC has now decided to “give peace a chance once again.”
August’s IED, which caused minor injuries to two people in Laitumkhrah, led to police launching a pre-dawn raid of the home of former HNLC leader Cherishterfield Thangkhiew, leading to his death. The HNLC described this as a “fake encounter” but police believed that Thangkhiew, who had surrendered to police formally years before, had returned to his militant ways.
Today, the HNLC said that Thangkhiew was in favour of peace talks and had been trying to talk to the government on the group’s behalf.
Being able to launch terror attacks in the heart of Shillong has shown that the HNLC is not yet a spent force. However, it has steered away from causing outright harm to the public or government figures, a far cry from the height of militancy where many people were shot dead in broad daylight by militants.
On the one hand, while it has been able to demonstrate its ability to strike, these attacks have also meant that HNLC has come under intense pressure from the police, who made several arrests in Shillong following the most recent blast. As a result, the banned outfit will come to the negotiating table with more leverage but also under more pressure from police and a public that is not keen to return to the nightmare days of the 1990s and early 2000s.
“After much consultation with some elders recently, we have decided to come to a peaceful agreement with the GOM (Government of Meghalaya) and the GOI (Government of India),” the release said. “As of now we are ready to talk within the ambit of the Indian constitution and we are ready to have talks without any pre-conditions.”
It added that the HNLC remains committed to the cause of the indigenous Khasi-Jaiñtia people and anticipates that the public and pressure groups will “develop a stake in the peace process” and become part of the mechanism to preserve the agreement, which will help the militants achieve their aims through peaceful means.
The HNLC further called on the government to appoint an official interlocutor to show its seriousness to the cause of peace.
