SHILLONG:
The proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) on Friday said it couldn’t say to what extent the proposed peace talks with the government will be “successful”.
“The HNLC hopes for a positive outcome from the peace talks but we cannot guarantee to what extent the peace talks can go and to what extent it will be successful because till today only the Mizoram peace accord 1986 which has been successful in the history of India and the world. However, the other agreements signed between militant outfits and the Government of India reach nowhere but end up only in paper and promises of the government,” HNLC general secretary-cum-publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw said in a statement issued here.
His statement came two days after the Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, announced that the formal peace talks with the HNLC will start by the first week of June. The announcement was made after a meeting between the Deputy Chief Minister In-charge Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong and leaders of the HNLC in the presence of the interlocutor.
The HNLC leader, however, maintained that the outfit’s decision to come forward for peace talks with the government did not signify surrender and said, “We are not surrendering but we want to discuss and resolve the political challenges confronting the Hynniewtrep community.”
“There is no personal gain but it is totally for the interest of the ‘Jaidbynriew’,” Nongtraw added.
He further stated that the aspiration of the HNLC is not for ‘separation’ or for ‘integration’ but “we want ‘recognition’ as a Jaidbynriew and it doesn’t matter whether it is within or outside India”.
“We want our own land that we can claim as our homeland like the Mizo in Mizoram,” Nongtraw said while adding that “The government has to come up with a permanent solution. We want our own land as land is the basis of all existence.”
“When we have our own land, we can form our own government and stand like a community that is free. In our own land, we can develop and create jobs, we can promote our own economy…we can use our mineral resources, water resources to survive,” he said.
The HNLC leader further stated that the Garo people have to understand that they too need to have their own land.
“We don’t want the Achik and the Hynniewtrep to be the next Kuki or Rohingya or Kurds, who are landless or stateless or stateless population,” Nongtraw asserted.