Opposition again rakes up HNLC leader’s surrender issue

SHILLONG: The Opposition once again cast aspersion on the state government over the manner in which senior HNLC leader Cherishstarfield Thangkhiew came overground and joined the mainstream.
Addressing media persons here on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma slammed Chief Minister Conrad Sangma over his statement that he is yet to be briefed about Thangkhiew’s retirement from the banned group.
“We have asked the government to be clear on their stand and the chief minister admitted that he is yet to be briefed. Such statements indicate complete disconnect between the chief minister and other members of the Cabinet,” Sangma said.
Maintaining that the suspension of operations against ANVC way back in 2004 was not done correctly, he added that as fallout peace eluded Meghalaya and many outfits mushroomed in Garo Hills.
Stating that the previous MUA Government had invited all the members of militant outfits to come on board and join the mainstream, the Leader of Opposition questioned as to whether the government of the day has a standard operating procedure in place for facilitating entry of senior members of banned outfits who come out of the organisation without any arms and ammunition.
“The Political department should have taken a call on how to move forward on the matter,” Sangma said, adding that there is contradiction in the statement of the chief minister and statement of the government on the floor of the House about its stand on militant groups.
“We are there to ensure support to the government for restoring peace but it must be done in a transparent manner,” the former chief minister said, adding that the Opposition wants to ensure there is no politico-militant nexus.
Suspecting that the chief minister may have kept his Cabinet colleagues in the dark about Thangkhiew, he added that the government must list parameters while dealing with the issue of militants joining the mainstream and holding talks.
When asked why the previous government did not engage with the HNLC when they offered to sit for talks, the former chief minister said that the state government had written to the Union government about it and since the state is dealing with a banned outfit, the state on its own cannot engage with them.