By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Centre has left it to the State Government to decide on the demand of the ANVC for a Garoland Autonomous Council (GAC) and also the desire of ANVC(B), the breakaway faction of the outfit, to hold talks with the Government.
Centre’s interlocutor for peace talks with the ANVC, PC Haldar on Monday said that it was up to the State Government to take a decision on the formation of GAC as demanded by the militant outfit, currently under ceasefire.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, Haldar, who is in Shillong as part of the National Security Advisory Board, said that the State has to take a decision on the various demands of the ANVC including the formation of GAC.
“The ANVC is under ceasefire and peace talks are on, but it is up to the State Government to deal with their demands”, he said.
The ANVC recently alleged that the State Government is yet to release the stipend of Rs 3,000 per month to the cadres since February this year.
Asked about the desire of ANVC (B), the breakaway group of ANVC, to hold talks with the Government, Haldar said, “The State can take a decision in this regard too. There was preparatory talks with the ANVC (B) by the state home department officials in the past , but the talks remained inconclusive.
The parent organization ANVC, formed in 1995 had initially demanded the formation of a separate state for Garos , but with the hope of setting up of a Garoland Autonomous Council, the ANVC later scaled down from their earlier demand of separate Garo state. The militant outfit is under ceasefire since 2004.
There was not many political level talks held with the ANVC to finalize their demand for the formation of Garoland Autonomous Council . The ANVC leaders in the past met both the home ministry officials and the Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma on several occasions, but the demand is yet to be fulfilled by the State Government.