TURA: It is official! After months of suspense a group of senior GNLA leaders led by former finance secretary Reding T Sangma have finally broken away from the outfit’s military chief Sohan D Shira and formed their own organization christening it A’chik Songna An’pachakgipa Kotok (ASAK).
In an exclusive interview to The Shillong Times on Wednesday, the commander-in-chief of the new outfit, Reding T Sangma, gave in detail the reasons for parting ways with Sohan D Shira.
“We unitedly formed the GNLA to fight for Garoland and protect our people from oppression. We wanted to take the cause of Garos to a higher level. Over the years GNLA gained from strength to strength until Sohan broke all rules of the organization and began to take decisions without consulting the other leaders of the group” said Reding T Sangma.
He blamed Sohan for the fratricidal killings within the GNLA group and for targeting other ‘revolutionary’ outfits like the ANVC-B and the Norrok X Momin led UALA making them sworn enemies.
“Unhappy with Sohan’s dictatorship many cadres left the organization. But they continued to suffer because hit squads were set to execute them for deserting the organization. He went a step further by burning down their family homes and demanding money as compensation for the cadre’s desertion,” accused Reding Sangma.
Levelling various charges against Sohan, the new outfit accused the GNLA chief of accumulating immense wealth by extorting traders and businessmen of all communities including Garos and collecting ‘tax’ from government officers.
“What benefit has Sohan brought for Garoland after all these years? After having collected large sums of money he is now trying for a ceasefire so that he can spend his fortune without being hunted down,” said Reding.
The new outfit ASAK, which literally means the vanguards of Garoland has named its headquarters as Grikram.
It has also roped in another senior GNLA militant leader known as Jack Marak who has now been made the finance secretary of the new organization.
Besides Reding (C-in-C) and Jack (finance), the other senior leaders of the group are Chairman Cheo Challang, Deputy C-in-C Chue DilsrangSangma, Secretary Dura Matgrik and joint Secretary Anmisil.
