Barkos’ recipe: Dialogue, devp
SHILLONG: The State Government will continue its ‘carrot and stick’ policy while dealing with the militants in Garo Hills.
Varied views have emerged on the issue of dealing with the militants as the Centre has already indicated that it is no longer interested in holding dialogue with various rebel groups operating in Garo Hills.
However, the new Chief Secretary Barkos Warjri told reporters on Wednesday that while the deployment of security force is required for the immediate dealing of the law and order problems in Garo Hills, and also to pursue the criminal cases, in the long run, force is not the answer as various measures including dialogue and development initiatives were necessary.
Asked about whether there is any difference on the stand of the Centre and the State on the issue of holding dialogue with the militants, Warjri said, “There is no immediate change of stand. The government has been displaying flexibility and if at all there is a shift in approach, this has to be decided by the Centre and the State.
Though he termed the Garo Hills situation as grave, the Chief Secretary, however, said that there was no plan to deploy the army or to declare Garo Hills as disturbed area.
Warjri, who had also served in Manipur for many years, said that while 15 years ago, some militant groups in Manipur had some sort of ideology, this is not the case with the groups in Garo Hills which sprang up very quickly aimed at making short term gain with hardly any ideology.
Nexus issue: On the allegations of nexus between politicians and militants in the state, the Chief Secretary said that the Government is bound to take a decision in this regard. “We cannot work on assumptions, and until we get definite materials we cannot jump into conclusions,” the Chief Secretary said.