SHILLONG: As the signing of ANVC’s tripartite ceasefire agreement completing 10 years on Wednesday, the militant outfit on Tuesday said that it had not given up its demand for ‘Greater Garoland’.
In an interview with The Shillong Times, the outfit’s publicity Secretary Arist Sengsrang N Sangma said that scaling down from their two earlier demand s of Greater Garoland and Garoland Autonomous Council did not mean that the outfit had given up the original demand of Greater Garoland.
After it was formed in 1995, the ANVC had engaged in an armed struggle fighting for a Greater Garoland which includes besides Garo Hills, the Garo dominated contiguous areas of West Khasi Hills, Goalpara, Kamrup and parts of Bangladesh. The outfit which was proscribed on November 16, 2000 entered into tripartite ceasefire agreement with Centre and State on July 23,2004.
After the Centre refused to fulfill its Greater Garoland demand, the ANVC in 2009 made another demand for formation of Garoland Autonomous Council in line with Bodoland Territorial Council through a memorandum submitted to the Centre.
However, since majority portion of Meghalaya falls under district councils, the State and the Centre agreed to strengthen the existing district councils instead of creating another body christened Garoland Autonomous Council .
Later, the ANVC agreed to the suggestion of the Centre and is waiting for the final peace pact to be signed likely next month in Delhi after a draft peace pact was signed in January 2013 in Shillong.
