By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 4: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Monday clarified that the notice of summons to Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) general secretary, Sainkupar Nongtraw was issued by a court, not the state government.
“This is the normal process of the court. The government has nothing to do with this since the judiciary and executive have already been separated,” Tynsong, who is also in-charge of the Home department, said.
Stating that they had held just one round of formal talks with the members of the HNLC, he said both the state government and the Centre want the peace talks to be expedited.
“We are waiting for their response. I would like to urge the HNLC leaders to be serious and come up with the issues since they are waiting for this only. I would also appeal to the HNLC leaders not to panic about the notice of summons issued by the court,” Tynsong said.
He also said that the government would like to talk to the HNLC top brass, either the commander-in-chief or the general secretary.
“We would like to have a sitting at the earliest possible to work on the issues which the outfit wants to discuss,” Tynsong said.
According to him, the HNLC can communicate to the government interlocutor through its interlocutor if they are ready for the discussion.
Asked if the crime committed by the HNLC will not be pursued, the Deputy CM said crime is crime, whether big or small.
“The law will take its own course when there are criminal activities. There is no other way out,” he said.
The notice of summons was issued by the court of East Khasi Hills Judicial Magistrate First Class, KE Rymbai. The notice said Nongtraw “has committed or is suspected to have committed the offence under section 120B and 121 IPC read with section 25 (i-b) of Arms Act…”
The HNLC, however, has brushed aside the Deputy CM’s stand terming it a political gimmick.
In a statement issued here late Monday, the HNLC questioned the Deputy CM’s statement steering clear from the court’s summon issued to HNLC general secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw.
“If Tynsong argues that the court process is merely a normal procedure, does this imply that if the chairman or general secretary receives an arrest warrant, the government is unable to intervene due to the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary? If the government is indeed unable to take any action, it appears to be a pre-planned trap,” the HNLC general secretary, Sainkupar Nongtraw, said in the statement.
The HNLC said that Tynsong’s assertion that ‘crime is a crime’ conflicts with the notion that there may be distinctions in the seriousness or circumstances of various crimes.
With regard to their conditions for peace talks, the HNLC recalled the case of NSCIN (IM). “…prior to the Naga leaders entering India for formal talks in 2002, the Nagaland government withdrew all cases against them,” it said.
“We expect the government to first withdraw the cases, similar to what the Nagaland government did in 2002. If the government of Nagaland could do it, then why Meghalaya government is hesitant to follow suit?” it added.
Earlier, the HNLC was livid that the notice of summons was issued to Nongtraw and threatened that it would pull out of the peace negotiations if such attitude of the government continues.
It had demanded that the charges against its leaders be dropped and a general amnesty offered to them to ensure the success of the peace process.