From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday welcomed the offer of the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council for parleys towards enabling lasting peace in the region.
The Centre’s offer came when Health Minister AL Hek submitted a formal letter addressed to the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah here. The letter, copy of which was also sent to the Prime Minister, was handed over to the junior minister for Home, G. Kishan Reddy.
“I as the leader of the legislative party along with the state party president wrote to the Prime Minister and the Union Home minister besides the BJP national president requesting their intervention into the matter,” Hek told The Shillong Times after presenting the letter to Reddy.
The decision to go ahead with peace talks was taken at a party meeting recently, he said. The move has the approval of the Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma.
The party has gone ahead with the important move after getting positive response from the HNLC and this will also bring peace in the hill state, he added.
HNLC is a militant organisation that claims to represent the Khasi-Jaintia tribal people. Its aim is to free Meghalaya from the alleged domination of the outsiders. The outfit has been intermittently banned by the Centre for “unlawful” activities. The previous Congress Government under then Home Minister Roshan Warjri had also attempted peace talks with the ultras.
