Shillong: The Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) on Wednesday announced that the organisation has authorised its Vice Chairman, Manbhalang Jyrwa, Political Secretary Aristerwell Thongni, and Foreign secretary Phrangkupar Diengdoh including two of their PSOs to participate in the ongoing Tripartite Peace talks between the Govt of India, Govt of Meghalaya and the HNLC.
The PSOs are Aiborlem Marbaniang and Storgy Lyngdoh.
The HNLC in a statement said, “Since the year 2004 the agenda of peace talks were initiated but it did not materialise, in spite of the Congress being in power at the state as well as the centre.”
They added that again in the year 2014 as per the request made by Ex-Governor of Meghalaya RS Moosahary to come forward to the negotiating table, the HNLC accepted the offer to come forward but subsequently, the “same congress government failed them.
“This time the HNLC is positive about the initiative taken by the MDA government as well the approval made by the NDA government at the centre. For the last few months the talks have been heading towards the right direction due to the cooperation extended by both the GOM and the GOI”, they added.
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The organisation added, “The decision to send our top leaders to engage in the ongoing peace talks is due to the trust that has been built between the HNLC and the appointed interlocutors AK Mishra, Ministry of Home Affairs (Retd IPS) Peter Dkhar (Retd IAS), our representative Bah Sadon Blah and the HNYF.”
They also thanked the government for providing a safe passage to their leaders. “At the same time, we believe that the safety and security of our leaders shall not be compromised. Our leaders should feel safe and comfortable and that their stay in the appointed locations as provided by the government should not result in a house arrest kind of atmosphere”, their statement added.
The organisation also stated that as long as the peace process is in progress, they are determined to make it happen and would not leave any stone unturned hoping for a positive outcome.
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They also said that in case of any eventuality whereby the peace talks fail, their leaders should return safe and sound to their respective location headquarters as per the discussions held with the government.
“The HNLC is committed to the peace talks and we hope and expect the same kind of commitment from the government. We believe that the Peace process would be expedited at the earliest and a step toward a political solution would be arrived at. So as to enable Peace and tranquillity in the State”, the statement concluded.