SHILLONG, Sep 7: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has asked Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to move ahead with the peace talks with the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) and the interstate border talks with Assam as fast as possible.
Revealing this on Wednesday, Sangma who met Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday said he had briefed the Home Minister about the second phase of talks between Assam and Meghalaya. The Home Minister was very positive and stressed on the need for Meghalaya to work closely with Assam and the central government and find a way to resolve the issues at the earliest, Sangma added.
The CM also announced that the state government has finalised the regional committees for the second phase of border talks and the notification would be issued shortly.
With regard to the tripartite talks with the HNLC, Sangma said he had briefed the Home Minister about the ongoing process and had also affirmed the state government’s commitment to take the peace talks to its logical conclusion.
When asked about the charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency against four HNLC cadres, the CM said it was an independent process and asserted that the charge sheet would not have any impact on the peace process.
Stating that talks between the HNLC and the government have begun at an unofficial level, Sangma said the government was clearing the pathway for the official talks to begin.
The CM also mentioned that he had submitted a report to the Home Minister on the initiatives taken by the MDA Government in the last four-and-a-half years.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui also asserted that the charge sheet against the HNLC leaders would not have any implication on the ongoing peace talks.
Rymbui told media persons on Wednesday that all the modalities for the talks have been finalised and the charge sheet would not impair that process.
“I am confident that the talks will continue and reach its logical conclusion,” he said.
Refusing to divulge any detail of the ongoing talks, he said that the government has left it to the interlocutors to work out the details.
It may be mentioned that the NIA has filed a charge sheet in the NIA Special Court, Shillong against four HNLC cadres in connection with an explosion that took place behind the staff quarters of Star Cement Factory Colony Lane at Lumshnong, East Jaintia Hills, on December 12, 2020.
The case was initially registered at Lumshnong police station, and re-registered by NIA on March 15, 2021.
