Tripartite meet on ANVC peace pact held lFinal agreement shortly,
says ANVC publicity secretary Arist Sangma

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: Seeking an end to bloodshed in the militant-hit Garo Hills region, both ANVC and ANVC (B) on Saturday signed a draft agreement with the both Centre and State Government for expansion of powers of the Garo Hills Autonomous District (GHADC).

The draft agreement was signed during the tripartite meeting between the representatives of the militant outfit and officials of the State Government and Union Ministry of Home Affairs here.

The final Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) will be signed after the draft agreement gets the mandatory approval of the State Cabinet and the Union Cabinet.

While expressing satisfaction over the outcome of the meeting, the ANVC publicity secretary Arist Sangma said the final agreement would be signed shortly.

Maintaining that the basic demand of the outfit for a Garoland Autonomous Council has not changed, he said, “It is only the nomenclature of GHADC which has been retained.”

“The GHADC has been empowered with several other subjects. The Town and Community Development department would now be given to the GHADC. By allotting this department to the council, the Municipal Boards would be abolished from the scheduled areas,” Sangma said.

He said that several other important departments would be given to the GHADC once this MOS is signed.

According to ANVC publicity secretary, the ANVC also demanded increase of the strength of the GHADC from the existing 30 to 40 members.

“Out of the 40, 35 members would be elected and the remaining five would be nominated,” Sangma said.

Replying to a query, he said that ANVC would demand that two of the nominated members should be from the outfit and out of the three remaining, two should go to the Nokma and one seat will be for a woman.

Asked when they are going to surrender all their arms, Sangma said they would surrender the remaining arms in their custody once they signed the agreement.

On the presence of the ANVC (B) during this tripartite meeting, he said that it is a great thing to see them being a part and parcel of the whole agreement.

“I hope that the decision of the ANVC (B) would largely contribute towards return of peace in Garo Hills region,” Sangma said.

When asked if they would pursue with the GNLA to be part of this whole negotiation, he said that they would definitely try to persuade with the GNLA to come and join in this landmark peace pact.

On the present strength of the ANVC, he said that they have a total number of 168 cadres in their fold while also informing that the ANVC (B) had claimed during the meeting that they have a total strength of 150 cadres.

“The ANVC (B) is expected to submit the details of its cadres and its weapons to the State Government shortly,” Sangma said.

The Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Home affairs, Shambu Singh termed Saturday’s meeting as a big achievement.

The next process is that both the state and union cabinet has to give nod to the draft settlement, after which an agreement will be signed, he added.

Meanwhile, the Centre-appointed interlocutor, PC Haldar said that his job was to bring the two groups together to the negotiation table.

“Now, it is for the Centre and State Government to take a call on the points which were agreed during tripartite meeting,” Haldar said adding that his role in this whole negotiation is nearly coming to an end.

Besides Haldar, others who attended the tripartite meeting include Union Home Ministry Joint Secretary (North East) Shambhu Singh, Chief Secretary WMS Pariat, Principal Secretary (Home) K S Kropha, ANVC general secretary Wanding K Marak and ANVC (B) chairman Rimpu N Marak among others.

From Our Special Correspondent

 New Delhi: The newly-formed National People’s Party (NPP) has forged an ‘understating’ with United Democratic Party (UDP).

This was announced by NPP’s national president Purno A Sangma here on Saturday.

“Our tribal centric party has reached an understanding with the UDP for the soon to be held assembly polls in Meghalaya,” Sangma said in a function organized to mark the launching of his party.

Sangma, however, did not elaborate whether it is a pre-poll or post-poll understanding.

He said that the party was ready with the names of 33 candidates.

Sangma also made it clear that his daughter and former Union Minister Agatha Sangma will contest 2014 parliamentary election on NPP ticket.

Stating that Agatha is not leaving NCP for the time being, Sangma said, “Mind my words she (Agatha) is at present with the NCP on technical grounds.”

Leader of the Opposition in Meghalaya Assembly Conard Sangma, James Sangma and several other leaders from the state took part in Saturday’s meeting.

The party also held its first meeting of the reconstituted Executive Committee here.

Addressing the function, Purno said that his party would not only focus on tribals but also on women and youths. “Our party will give maximum seats to women and youths,” he said.

Agatha Sangma later told a news agency that she would contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as NPP candidate.

“Now I cannot join the party due to technical reasons but in 2014 election, I would stand from NPP,” said Agatha, who is at present a NCP MP.

She said NPP has already aligned with the NDA.

From Our Special Correspondent

 New Delhi: Former Lok Sobha Speaker PA Sangma, who broke away with the NCP last year to contest the Presidential elections, on Saturday joined hands with the BJP-led NDA.

Launching the NPP at the “national level”, Sangma said it has been active for long as a recognised party from Manipur.

“Book will be the national symbol of the party because we believe that only literacy and education can empower the weaker sections,” said Sangma.

“Though the party is meant for all and its membership is open for everyone, it is going to be tribal centric,” said Sangma.

He announced that former Union Minister Arvind Netam will be the Working President of the party.

Meanwhile, BJP has hailed Sangma’s decision to make his NPP a part of the NDA alliance.

“Sangma had met NDA working president L K Advani yesterday and expressed his desire to join the alliance. Today his party took this decision and conveyed the formal decision to join the NDA,” BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Sangma called Advani on the phone on Saturday to inform him about the NPP’s decision.

“NPP becoming a part of the NDA will strengthen the coalition, particularly in the Northeast. BJP hails this decision. On behalf of my party, I wholeheartedly welcome his decision,” Prasad said. (With inputs from PTI)

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: The Centre has ruled out immediate possibility of talks with both the Garo Hills-based GNLA and Khasi Hills-based HNLC.

Speaking to The Shillong Times, the Joint Secretary, North East, Ministry of Home Affairs Shambu Singh, who participated in Saturday’s meeting with both the factions of ANVC, said that since the Centre had declared GNLA as a terrorist organization, the security forces will go hard on them and possibility talks with the outfit does not arise.

“The GNLA is a terrorist organization. We are not talking to them as their main intention is to extort money”, Singh said.

Asked about HNLC, Singh said,” I am not bothered about HNLC and we are not even inviting them for talks”.

In the past, the State Government had made appeals to the GNLA to come forward for talks, but in vain as the militant outfit went ahead with many violent activities including extortions, kidnapping and killings.

As far as HNLC is concerned, the Centre is not keen to hold talks as over the years, the activities of the militant outfit had been neutralized, an official said.

There were reports of HNLC re grouping to show their presence felt during the upcoming Assembly elections, but the Meghalaya police asserted that they would be keeping vigil.

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: The leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Conrad Sangma on Saturday crticised the State Government for low conviction rate in crime against women while suggesting some corrective steps for time-bound punishment of the guilty.

Talking to The Shillong Times over the phone from New Delhi, Sangma said, “A significant contributory cause of the alarming trend is the low conviction rate in rape cases.”

While the entire country is horrified over the recent gang-rape in the national capital, many rape cases have taken place even in the matrilineal state while the Williamnagar rape case continues to make the headlines in the State.

While admitting that there is no quick fix solution to the problem, he said the Government should adopt short and long term strategies to solve this problem.

According to Sangma, as a short-term strategy, the Government should appoint more women police to keep a check on this rising trend.

As a longer strategy, sensitization should be done regarding gender equity where men and women can be treated on the same lines, he said

From CK Nayak

 New Delhi: Congress will announce its candidates for the upcoming Assembly election in Meghalaya on Monday.

The list, which was finalized on Saturday, now awaits the party president Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s seal of approval.

It is understood that candidates for the five contentious seats have also been finalised.

“There was unanimity on most of the seats,” Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma told The Shillong Times on Saturday.

When questioned about the delay in announcement of the list, he said the same became unavoidable “since in several seats there was more than one aspirant.”

“The Congress is a big and grand old party and that is why there were so many aspirants in the race for the party ticket,” Dr Sangma said.

He also made it clear that the party is united and confident of retaining power on its own. The whole process of selection of candidates was done in a democratic manner, he said.

Meanwhile, the MPCC chief DD Lapang, Forest Minister Prestone Tynsong and former PCC chief OL Nongtdu left for Shillong on Saturday morning.

However, Dr Sangma, MPCC Working President Mrs Deborah Marak and former minister Sayeedullah Nongrum stayed back. Dr Sangma will leave for Shillong on Sunday.