Banned Meghalaya outfit offers peace

The banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), involved in a series of blasts in Meghalaya over a year, has announced it is ready for unconditional peace talks.Saiñkupar Nongtraw, the outfit’s general secretary, issued a statement on Tuesday to “give peace a chance once again” less than a week after Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma told HNLC that it should not set any precondition for starting a peace process. Nongtraw said his group made the decision “after receiving a lot of requests in the last few days from elders and some social organisations”.“We are ready to talk within the ambit of the Indian Constitution and without any preconditions,” he said, adding that the killing of former HNLC general secretary Cheristerfield Thangkhiew in August 2021 had derailed the peace process. The HNLC has been fighting for a sovereign homeland for the Khasi tribal people of Meghalaya. The outfit had its origin in the Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation Council, the first pan-Meghalaya outfit formed in the mid-1980s. Inter-tribe differences triggered a split in the group in 1993, with the Achik or Garo members forming the Achik Matgrik Liberation Army and the Khasi-Jaintia members forming the HNLC The outfit had claimed responsibility for detonating a low-intensity bomb in State capital Shillong on January 30 evening. The main accused apprehended was a 17-year-old.