Banned outfit demands ILP, plebiscite for Hynniewtrep
SHILLONG: The banned HNLC has called a 12-hour bandh along with a poll boycott in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills on April 9, the day Lok Sabha elections are due in Meghalaya.
It has also renewed the demand for imposition of the inner line permit system in Meghalaya and called for a plebiscite to decide if Hynniewtrep wants to stay in India or not.
“The HNLC appeals to the people of Hynniewtrep to boycott the drama of elections enacted by the Government of India, as the outfit would observe a total shutdown of the entire Khasi and Jaintia Hills on April 9 starting from 5am to 5pm,” publicity secretary of HNLC Saiñkupar Nongtraw said in a statement issued to the media on Saturday.
The poll boycott call has put the State Government in the face of a fresh challenge to hold smooth elections for the Shillong Lok Sabha seat. It has been trying for the past few weeks, through its election department, to woo voters to exercise their franchise in large numbers. Meghalaya has witnessed a drop in polling percentage in the past few elections.
The decision to call a bandh on the polling day was taken in an emergency meeting of Central Executive Committee of HNLC held on April 1. Media persons, patients, ambulances and religious ceremonies were exempted from the purview of the 12-hour shutdown.
The statement said that the outfit did not have any faith in the Indian political system which was “corrupt” and the election of MPs in India would result only in developing the personal self-interests of those who would contest.
“Many constituencies in the Hynñiewtrep including West khasi hills have decided to boycott the elections and the recent statement of the CEO P. Naik to arrest the people for not participating in the elections is the result of sheer ignorance and is violating the rights of the common masses,” Nongtraw said.
Claiming that the delay on the part of the government to implement ILP had helped HNLC to emerge stronger, he said educated youths, who had been affected by the system, had joined hands with the Council. “The longer the government takes time to implement ILP, the stronger the Council will emerge”, he added.
The militant outfit also said that India was allowing the migration of numbers of non- tribals into Meghalaya which had eroded the ability of the indigenous people to hold on to their distinct cultural heritage and ethnic identity.
The HNLC alleged that in 1948, the Government of India had forcefully signed the instrument of accession and annexation agreement at gunpoint without the consent of the Durbar Hima and the Syiems.
“If India claims to be the champion of human rights, then it must come up with a ‘plebiscite’ for our Hynñiewtrep region and let our people decide whether to stay with India or without the interference of India,” the HNLC leader added, claiming the right of self-determination,
The militant outfit said that it was against the Indian political system, which denies the right to self- determination whereas the right to self-determination of peoples was a fundamental
principle under international law.
The HNLC said politicians and bureaucrats in India had amassed a great deal of wealth and much of black money was deposited untaxed in overseas accounts.
The HNLC leader said election was a time when corruption was at its peak. “Big industrialists fund politicians to meet high cost of election and ultimately the former will seek personal favour. Bribery to politicians by industrials is aimed at influencing the politicians. “Moreover, in order to get elected, politicians bribe the poor illiterate people of our Hynniewtrep, who are slogging for two times meal a day.”
The outfit asked what all the Indian MPs had done to the people over the years. He also cited several scams and multi-crore corruption cases involving senior Indian politicians.