Amid mounting demands from various political parties for a probe into alleged links between cabinet minister and Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar and the banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), fellow Deputy CM Prestone Tynsong today came out in strong defence of his colleague.
“I stand by the statement made by Dhar. He has clearly stated he has no links and no payments were made [to the HNLC]. What more can we do? As a government, we have accepted his statement,” Tynsong told reporters.
He added that those still unsatisfied are free to pursue the matter independently. “If some sections of people are not happy, they are free to seek more information. But from the government’s end, that statement stands,” he asserted.
The issue exploded after the militant group claimed two weeks ago that Dhar had funded the HNLC several years ago but had stopped once he joined the National People’s Party.
On whether the state government would initiate an inquiry into the allegations, Tynsong was unequivocal. “If we start calling for inquiries into every allegation, we’ll be dealing with thousands of them. You need to understand the ground reality,” he said, effectively ruling out a government-led probe into the matter.
