Editor,
Mr PA Sangma, the NPP President has claimed that “Mukul is the chairman of all militant outfits”: As one who knows the politics of Garo Hills I would call PA Sangma the Commander In Chief of all the militant groups on Garo Hills. He has been playing footsie with all militant outfits. When the Mukul Sangma government came down heavily on the militants, Sangma accused Dr Mukul of killing Garo ‘brothers.’ The wily senior Sangma has never condemned any Garo militant outfit during the last two decades? Not the ALMA or ANVC or LAEF or GNLA! Why?
I attended a public meeting of PA Sangma at Rongsak in East Garo Hills before the Assembly elections where he condemned the Mukul government for conducting police actions against GNLA. When the police went in search of GNLA militants in July 2012 in to the Durama jungles, the GNLA chief Sohan D Shira had called a 300 hour bandh in Garo Hills which crippled the lives of the poor people. Did PA Sangma condemn the GNLA then? To his credit, during the last two and half years, Mukul Sangma has been criticizing the militants in Garo hills for their anti national activities and for crippling developmental projects in Garo Hills. He openly called them criminals and refused to negotiate with them till they surrender weapons as pre-condition for talks.
It is common knowledge that NCP had won the elections with full support and backing of ANVC during 2003 and 2008. We don’t know whether he has lost the trust and support of ANVC during the recent elections. But it is a fact that the Congress was backed by ANVC during the Assembly elections held in 2013. It is an open secret that GNLA was instrumental in the success of candidates in Chokpot and Williamnagar constituencies.
PA Sangma is crying foul now because he did not get the backing of any militant group active in Garo Hills in the recent elections. But the fact remains that whether it is Congress, NCP (PA Sangma’s former party) or GNC are cleverly using the Garo militant groups for their electoral gains. This is a dangerous trend emerging in the Garo Hills region. In Khasi and Jaintia Hills areas, in spite of HNLC militant activities during the last decade, no political party had approached HNLC for electoral gains. This perhaps, had helped the police in eliminating militancy from this region. The HNLC is now confined to Bangladesh. Thanks to the political leaders of Khasi and Jaintia Hills areas for not taking the support of any militant group for their electoral gains.
In Garo Hills region it appears that all the political parties are approaching local militant groups such as GNLA, ANVC , ANVC (B), UALA, and other splinter groups for support during elections. This is a dangerous trend in Garo Hills as it lends legitimacy to these militant groups to exist, perpetrate, split, and survive fancy tags and suffixes such as “Force”, “Tigers” and “Army”,
Why do national and regional political parties flock to these militant groups for electoral gains? This is a subject of social research. But common sense, based on field observations, throw some light on this trend. The militants in Garo hills operate from remote and inaccessible areas. They depend on the local support of the villagers for their food and for providing information about police. This coupled with immense terror that the militants create in the psyche of the villagers by killing innocent villagers branding them as police informers make the villagers totally surrender to these militants. In this way, the militants wield total sway over the villagers. During elections, these militants give a direction to the villagers to vote for or against a candidate. As the winning and losing margin is very narrow in many constituencies, three or four villages voting in favor of a particular candidate swings the electoral fortunes of the candidates.
Our political masters from Garo Hills have understood this tendency and have experienced the potential of GNLA, ANVC and ANVC (B) influencing the electoral outcome in many constituencies in Garo Hills. No secret that the political leaders, be it Congress, NPP, GNC or some independent contestants, have approached these militant groups during the recent Assembly elections.
This is the most dangerous trend developing in Garo Hills. Instead of addressing this dangerous trend, which would soon take Garo Hills the Manipur way, PA Sangma now accuses Mukul Sangma of leading all the militant groups. If Mukul is culpable of this dangerous trend, Mr P A Sangma is equally culpable.
As a common citizen of this State and as a Garo, I beseech upon Mr P A Sangma, Dr Mukul Sangma and GNC Supremo Clifford Marak to tread a common path by condemning all militant activities in Garo Hills for the larger good of the Garo society. History will never forgive their petty personal agenda at the cost of the larger Garo society. We must quickly learn from our Khasi-Pnar brothers and emulate their method of denouncing militancy. Common people are watching all Garo political leaders and will teach a lesson to those who look to GNLA or ANVC or ANVC (B) for political support.
Yours etc.,
Peter R Marak,
Garo Hills
