SHILLONG: The signing of a draft peace pact with ANVC by the Meghalaya government without bringing into its ambit the splinter group ANVC-B has been criticized as short sighted. The State Government now wants to rectify the anomaly by exploring ways and means to have a ceasefire with ANVC-B.
A senior Home Department official said on Saturday that a meeting would be held on April 24 with ANVC-B leaders especially to discuss the ways and means to rehabilitate the ANVC-B cadres. The meeting might also discuss the need to enter into a formal ceasefire with the militant group, he added.
A ceasefire agreement was signed with ANVC way back in 2004, but the State Government failed to ink any ceasefire agreement with the breakaway group ANVC-B though a draft peace pact was signed by the Government with the parent body in January, 2013.
Operations by security forces against ANVC-B militants have continued in the absence of a formal ceasefire agreement, resulting in the death of many cadres besides arrest of many others. A section of ANVC-B cadres, too, have also resorted to extortion, and other illegal activities, according to the police.
One irritant in the way of arriving at a peaceful settlement with the ANVC-B has been the absence of designated camps for its cadres. The ANVC-B leadership has been complaining for some time that in the absence of designated camps there is no safety and security for their cadres housed in temporary camps set up by them and urging the government to finalize the designated camps.