By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The hurriedly done draft peace pact with the ANVC(B) just prior to the Assembly elections, without asking the cadres to surrender their weapons in time, has resulted in extortion and formation of splinter groups.
An official source said that the defect of the draft agreement lies in the fact that no deadline was given to the ANVC(B) leaders to deposit their arms with the police or keep them in joint custody as was done in the case of its parent group, ANVC.
The delay on part of the Government to ask the ANVC (B) militants to deposit the arms has resulted in its cadres resorting to criminal activities.
Moreover, lack of proper agreement also paved the way for ANVC (B) cadres to resort to violence and one such case was the killing of two jail staff of the Williamnagar jail on February 2 despite the outfit’s leaders signing the draft peace pact.
There are reports that the ANVC(B) commander Singbirth N Marak alias Norok, who was involved in the killing of the jail staff along with a few other cadres, have already formed another outfit in Garo Hills, shattering the peace pact.
It was on January 8 this year that the officials of the State Government, Centre and the ANVC- ANVC-B groups had signed the draft peace pact in Shillong, which had also evoked criticism from the Opposition NPP as the party considered it as an election stunt.
The ANVC (B) was formed by a group of dissident ANVC cadres, who abstained from the peace talks with the original group ANVC.
The Government wanted to bring both the groups under the peace pact for a final settlement, without, however, going for a ceasefire with the ANVC (B) cadres.
Lack of clarity on the status of the peace pact resulted in the police continuing its operations against the ANVC (B) cadres. Three ANVC (B) cadres were killed on March 9 in East Garo Hills in an encounter.
Unlike the ANVC(B), in case of its parent organization, ANVC, a tripartite peace agreement was signed with the State and the Centre in 2004 and there was immediate suspension of operations.
However, in the case of ANVC(B), before suspension of operations, the Government went ahead with signing a pact to empower the District Councils, without first bringing its cadres under ceasefire agreement.
Since a formal peace agreement is pending, violence is likely to recur in Garo Hills involving ANVC(B). Moreover, the cadres have access to arms and ammunition.
The Chief Minister Mukul Sangma recently told the Assembly that the draft agreement is still pending with the Centre for finalization.