By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Union Home Secretary RK Singh on Friday preferred to downplay the emergence of the ANVC (B), a breakaway group of the ANVC which is currently under a ceasefire agreement.
“A small fraction of a breakaway militant group does not worry the Union Government much,” Singh said on the sidelines of his visit to the North Eastern Police Academy (NEPA), Umsaw in Ri-Bhoi district on Friday.
Singh, however, stayed away from commenting on the claim of the Meghalaya government that the breakaway faction of the ANVC was a result of error in the tripartite ceasefire agreement signed between the Central government, Meghalaya government and the ANVC on July 23, 2004.
Earlier, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma had blamed the Central government that it had ‘erred’ by signing the ceasefire agreement with the ANVC in 2004 without taking most of the cadres into confidence.
Dr Sangma had also claimed that the truce agreement piloted by the Central government was signed in hurry.
Commenting about the GNLA, the Union Home Secretary said that the GNLA has suffered a lot of reverses in the past few months. He also commended the efforts taken by the State police to control the activities of the outfit.
“We are confident that we would very soon catch all their cadres,” Singh stated.
Talks with ULFA
While hoping that Myanmar would act against insurgent groups taking shelter in that country in the aftermath of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit, Singh said, date for another round of dialogue with ULFA barring the anti-talk faction led by Paresh Baruah would be fixed soon.
Terming the anti-talk faction of ULFA led by Baruah as insignificant, Singh said, “One insignificant person staying away does not matter.”