HNLC says new govt won’t last long

SHILLONG: Proscribed militant outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has compared politics in Meghalaya with a circus in which most politicians are clowns and has predicted the downfall of the newly-cobbled Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, which it said would last only a few months.
A statement issued by the publicity secretary of HNLC Sainkupar Nongtraw said the coalition of the regional parties (UDP, HSPDP and PDF) with the BJP and the NPP has not been formed on the basis of a common ideology but only on the basis of common interests.
“We are expecting that the NPP, which is heading the state government and is also a part of the Central government, will call the HNLC for talks,” Nongtraw said.
He has urged politicians from the Khasi-Jaintia Hills who are a part of the government to prioritize the core issues of the indigenous people rather than aggrandizing their political careers.
Nongtraw said the NPP aimed to uproot militancy from the state in a span of five years which was also the target of former chief minister Mukul Sangma.
He said the former MUA government led by Sangma was busy negotiating with new outfits from the Garo Hills which, Nongtraw claimed, were bereft of principles.
He recalled that in 2004 the late politician Purno A Sangma invited the HNLC for talks to Kolkata to pave the way for further talks with the Union government.
However, the Central government also invited the HNLC for talks in which Pastor PBM Basaiawmoit was the mediator in 2005 while the invitation of Purno Sangma ended abruptly and unexpectedly.