Govt interlocutor to start peace process with HNLC: CM

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 15, 2022

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said the interlocutor will soon start discussion with the leaders of the banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC).

“The interlocutor will now start doing the exercise so once that starts the entire picture will be clearer,” Sangma told reporters.

On March 13, the HNLC had requested the government of Meghalaya to instruct the police department to suspend all activities including arresting, raiding and harassing its cadres and also people  just on mere suspicion of maintaining links with the HNLC.

To this, the chief minister said that all these aspects will come up and that the rules are in place.

Retired IAS officer Peter S Dkhar has been appointed as the interlocutor for facilitating the peace process with the HNLC.

Meanwhile, the chief minister said that the government has communicated to the outfit on the appointment of the interlocutor.

“The communication has reached them (HNLC) and they have also verbally, in fact, informed us that they are agreeable to the individuals that we have named,” he said.

Stating that these talks are happening at different levels, Sangma said, “It’s not as simple as just writing a letter or me calling somebody or somebody else calling somebody. So there is a process we have to follow on this. So all those processes are being done and the communication is being done to them, maybe not in writing immediately, but we have informed them about this decision and they are aware about it.”