By Robert Sangma
It is amusing to read the news that ANVC-B is saddened by the killing of a mother in Chokpot by GNLA. No militant organization has the right to condemn or feel sad about the brutal killing of a defenceless mother of four because the ANVC (B) and other groups have committed similar acts and killed many innocent people. Who tortured and killed the innocent Nepali auto driver in Tura? Who is responsible for the killing of the richest Nokma of Nongalbibra? If they are expressing sadness then they are faking it like wolves in sheep’s clothing. They should remember that they have broken many hearts by killing people mercilessly. Their family members will never get over the pain. Hence they should stop shedding crocodile tears. And if they are human beings then they should not go for a ceasefire but surrender unconditionally with weapons and all the wealth (blood money) they have accumulated all these years.
The Home Minister should wake up and start acting immediately to stop the violence in Garo Hills before the Centre decides to take things in its hands. The Government should not talk too much but act swiftly before all the militants escape to Bangladesh. The Bangladesh border must be sealed completely with the help of the army. They BSF is doing its duty but militants are crossing the border seamlessly, thereby making a mockery of the BSF presence at the borders. The Government should not talk of a ceasefire with any militant outfit but make life difficult for them so that they will have to surrender. If they don’t it’s time to go for army operation but after weeding out from the state police those moles who leak out information of an operation to the militants. Isn’t that why state police always reach an abandoned militant camp? Of course the army should operate within certain parameters and not harass innocent youths and women. The Garo people want a swift army operation, not an eye wash of a peace talk. How many of us are physically and mentally tortured and harassed by the militants day in and day out in our own land? Last year the then
DGP said if the army is deployed there might be harassment to the public. He claimed that within three months his team( MLP) would be able to neutralize GNLA. Unfortunately, not only could his team not neutralize GNLA but they have allowed more than 15 militant groups to breed. The Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma should learn from Tarun Gogoi the CM of Assam how he managed to control the virulent ULFA. Was it is not through army operation only?
Militants are killing whoever they like in Garo Hills yet there is no police checking. If the police did their duty the militants would not move around freely with guns. One wonders if an army operation might hurt some MLAs from all parties. The operation should not be against GNLA alone but against all the militants and duplicates including those under ceasefire who continue to collect money by using the letter head of other groups. When these extortionist come over ground the Government must confiscate all their movable and immovable property. One of the failures of successive governments is in allowing militants to keep and use stolen money.
The NPP and UDP want to have CBI inquiry into the politico-militant nexus. We all know that recently one of the ANVC-B cadres revealed that ANVC-B Chairman, Rimphu Marak has a close nexus with a certain politician. Immediately there was an encounter where he and three others were killed. Who is responsible for this killing? The Police or his own chairman? It is understood that the ANVC-B was a creation of the Government where UDP was a partner and also with blessings of the Centre to control GNLA. But the ploy failed because ANVC -B followed in the footsteps of the GNLA. Politicians should realize that Rimphu Marak’s has the habit of pulling down his own mentor and sitting on his seat. No politician from Garo Hills whether MP or MLA has the right to accuse the other because an independent enquiry will reveal that they accommodate militants in their homes which itself is a crime.
Who is the politician responsible for the formation of ANVC? The GNLA claims that a certain politician’s mother was not a Garo and so he is not a Garo. Then what about Rimphu Marak? His father is a Bengali and about what about Sohan Shira? In a tweet I once read that his father too is not a Garo. Then what about the parentage of many other politicians who came from Bangladesh to India in 1971 or earlier? Are they not Garos and Indians? We are all A.chiks and we should stop washing dirty linen in public. Most of the police in Garo Hills are tribals not Muslims as claimed by militants. It is the militants who want to kill all the Garos and bring the Bangladeshis to Garo Hills. Are they paid by the ISI billions to kill their own people?