By Patricia Mukhim
For a while now Garo Hills has occupied prime space in the local dailies because of bitter feud between different militant groups. This is a turf war over scarce resources. The militant outfits derive their strength from the coal business, from truck owners etc who are taxed to the point that Meghalaya coal today has become a non-viable product. Over the years the emergence of one of the most vicious and brutal militant group under the nomenclature of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), headed by a former cop, Champion Sangma has taken militancy on a new trajectory in Garo Hills. Suspected informers are mercilessly gunned down. Government officials are intimidated, extorted and kidnapped for ransom. So much so, many officials don’t want to serve in this lawless region.
But that is only half of the story. Militant groups are also splitting like atoms because of the angst to be at the top of the hierarchy and control the turf and the purse strings. The other day the GNLA, military commander, Sohan Shira sent a release that sounded like it came from a disciplined military set up. He discredited his former colleague Reding T Sangma who has now started a new outfit called the Achik Songna An’pachakgipa Kotok (ASAK). Reding has listed the acquisitions made by Sohan Shira that add up to roughly about Rs 115 crores. Reding accuses Sohan of extorting Rs 10 crore from a joint venture company engaged in construction of the national highway 44E from Nongstoin in West Khasi Hills to Tura. This is a strategic link road which connects Garo Hills to Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Otherwise, travelling to Garo Hills means having to go via Assam’s Goalpara District.
Reding has also made another interesting allegation about Sohan Shira which is that he purchased a plot of land in Nongrim Hills, Shillong. To this claim the Nongrim Hills Dorbar Shnong has given a quick rejoinder that there is no such land transaction in the name of the militant leader in Nongrim Hills. The counterpoint to the Nongrim Hills Dorbar is why would Sohan Shira buy anything in his own name? And why would Reding T Sangma mention Nongrim Hills of all the localities in Shillong unless he knows something. He could have mentioned any other locality. Unless, Reding knows that Nongrim Hills is a VIP area where the chief minister, Dr Mukul Sangma owns a home. Is Reding trying to connect the dots somehow and to tarnish anyone within his immediate distance?
To counter Reding the GNLA issued a press release saying that the outfit has its own identity and ideology and that the members are bound by the Constitution of the outfit. The GNLA claims that it exercises judicial and legislative powers vide its chairman directly or indirectly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution. The release said that Reding had actually been promoted as Public Grievances Secretary but had failed to exercise his own powers and functions as given in the constitution. The release even claimed that Reding Sangma is undergoing treatment for some mental illness and hence was demoted from his rank. The GNLA has accused another former cadre, Mingran T Sangma of providing fodder to Reding’s cannon. They claim that the new outfit – ASAK is masterminded by Mingran T Sangma who they allege is also a police informer.
Recently the Governor of Meghalaya Dr KK Paul had given a call to all militant outfits to cease their violent activities and come over ground for talks. Cashing in on this the GNLA’s military commander, Sohan Shira is asking that Champion Sangma the Chairman who is currently in jail after being pushed back from Bangladesh, be released since talks can only be held under his leadership. This has been the modus operandi of all militant groups. In Assam, militant leaders like Jewel Gorlosa of the DHD and Ranjan Daimary of the NDFB have been released to facilitate peace talks with the outfits. Both Gorlosa and Daimary have committed heinous crimes but these have simply been written off by an insouciant central government that has no policy on how to deal with militancy and a pusillanimous state government that makes peace with violence. So will Meghalaya follow in the same footsteps and give in to untrustworthy assurances from a group that has killed mercilessly to keep itself afloat.
Chief Minister, Dr Mukul Sangma had said that all those wishing to talk peace should come under the larger rubric of the Achik National Volunteers’ Council (ANVC), the first group to sign a tripartite truce with the Central and State Government in 2004. Considering that all other factions and splinter groups in Garo Hills today were former members of the ANVC the Chief Minister’s statement has merit. But the ground reality is something else. The ANVC itself has split and the other faction led by Bernard N Marak is carrying on its nefarious activities of extortion, intimidation etc.
It would be instructive to go into the reasons for this anti-social ferment in Garo Hills. The region continues to be backward despite the fact that most chief ministers have come from the Garo Hills. Education is in the doldrums with teacher absenteeism being at its highest and teachers being appointed not on merit but on political considerations. There is as yet no institution of excellence in Garo Hills. The North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) campus at Tura has not made much dent. The Central Agricultural University has a college of Home Science in Tura which has not been able to attract too many students from outside the state. The Baljek Airport created some 25 years ago remains non-operational. Many promises have been made by one of the leading lights of Garo Hills, Mr Purno A Sangma who has represented Tura times without number in the Lok Sabha but the airport continues to wear a forlorn look. Indeed Baljek airport has been in the election manifesto of the Congress and the NCP again and again. But the people of Garo Hills themselves don’t seem to hold their leaders accountable. They have allowed themselves to be taken for a ride.
The only business that has been yielding some revenue and which has spawned the extortion racket is coal extraction. There are illegal toll gates and check gates from which multiple actors (politicians, government officials) and not just the militants have been milking from. Garo Hills today is a free for all zone. Anyone with the gun rules the roost. Several attempts to address militancy have failed because there are powerful vested interests that want it to continue. Need we say more? Tackling militancy, as far as the state police is concerned has been lacklustre. While nondescript cadre members have been arrested or killed the big fish are safely ensconced in their jungle haven. Sometimes it makes one wonder if we are fighting militancy or simply engaging in a war of rhetoric. Police Chiefs have issued strong statements which are effectively countered by militants by gunning down policemen in cold blood.
When will this farce end? Clearly even the Union Home Ministry is uninformed about the full force of militancy in Garo Hills. In the past any requisition for additional forces have met with scant respect. Those leading anti-militancy operations know how difficult it has been for the forces to operate in inhospitable terrain. They need to recoup but do not have adequate replacement. Only very recently has the matter gained traction at the Union Home Ministry. The GNLA leaders know that once the Centre is serious about tackling militancy in Garo Hills with full intent then they might be smoked out of their holes. Perhaps this is the reason why Sohan Shira is talking peace today. But does he even know the meaning of peace?