NEW DELHI, Feb 16: The Centre and Meghalaya government on Wednesday held the first round of discussions on carrying the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council’s (HNLC) peace offer forward, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said here.
Sangma met Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla for initiating talks with the banned outfit. He informed the Centre that the HNLC is ready for unconditional talks.
The CM requested the Centre to appoint an interlocutor for starting the peace talks with the HNLC at the earliest. There was no meeting planned with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah since he was busy with the ongoing electioneering in Uttar Pradesh and other states.
“We received a letter from the HNLC a few days ago expressing willingness to hold peace talks with the government. The offer is unconditional and they are ready to hold the dialogue within the parameters of the Constitution,” Sangma told reporters here after his half-hour meeting with Bhalla.
He said it was a “very good” step and was hopeful of restoring peace in Meghalaya and elsewhere in the Northeast through dialogues to resolve the HNLC’s demands.
The HNLC, claiming to represent the Khasi-Jaintia people, had been seeking the ouster of outsiders from the hill state. It was banned twice by the Centre – in 2000 and 2019 – following its violent activities.
Sangma, who is also the chairman of the GST Council, had a meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukthar Abbas Naqvi and presented them with a book on the 50 years of Meghalaya.
Naqvi assured the CM that a unique medical skill development centre will be set up in Meghalaya. Sangma invited him to attend the foundation ceremony of the centre when it comes up.
The CM said the interstate border issue has almost been resolved in six locations following talks and the remaining six areas are under discussion. The discussion on resolving the Assam-Meghalaya border dispute is in the last phase, he added.
“We have submitted our report to the Union government and based on this report, it will take action to resolve the issue. Hopefully, the issue will be taken up after the elections,” he said.
Expressing hope that the Centre will invite both the states soon, Sangma said: “When we come, we will certainly resolve the differences on these six locations. Our effort is to resolve the differences in the remaining six locations before the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.”
Meghalaya and Assam had chosen six “less complicated” out of the 12 disputed areas to resolve in the first phase. The two governments arrived at a consensus on the villages and identified natural boundaries such as rivers and forests. There are 36 villages in the six places, covering an area of 36.79 sq. km.
According to the joint final set of recommendations given by the committees, Assam will get control of 18.51 sq. km and Meghalaya 18.28 sq. km after the settlement in the first phase.