HNLC condemns UAPA tribunal’s decision to uphold MHA extension of ban for another five years

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 26, 2025

The proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) on Monday condemned the recent decision of the UAPA Tribunal, presided over by Justice Soumitra Saikia, to uphold the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) extension of the ban against the outfit for another five years.

In a statement, HNLC general secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw said, “This verdict, issued on May 2025, is not a pursuit of justice but a calculated political act to criminalise a legitimate indigenous liberation movement. The continued application of the UAPA on HNLC reflects the Indian State’s deep fear of any challenge to its imposed authority over the Hynniewtrep nation.”

He alleged that the UAPA has become a tool of repression used not to counter terrorism, but to suppress political dissent, regional aspirations, and indigenous voices. 

“By labelling the HNLC as “unlawful” since 2000, the Indian State avoids addressing the root causes of the Hynniewtrep struggle: historical betrayal, denial of our right to self-determination, and systemic exploitation of our people and resources,” Nongtraw said adding “The HNLC does not seek to destroy peace or disrupt harmony; we seek to restore the sovereignty of a nation whose rights have been repeatedly denied. We are not terrorists, we are the political voice of the Hynniewtrep Nation. Our resistance is not rooted in hatred, but in history, justice, and the unyielding desire to be free in our own land.”

Nongtraw said that the 48 criminal cases and 73 arrests between 2019 and 2024 are part of a well-known strategy: to inflate figures and generate fear to justify state repression. 

“Many of those arrested were innocent youth, wrongfully accused for merely expressing solidarity with the HNLC or for rejecting forced collaboration with Indian agencies. These are not criminals they are victims of a State that views patriotism among indigenous peoples as a threat.”

Further, Nongtraw said that the accusation that HNLC is using social media platforms to “radicalise” youth is another misleading narrative. He claimed, “In reality, we are educating and awakening the Hynniewtrep youth, reconnecting them to their roots, their stolen history, and their inherent rights as a sovereign people. What the Indian State truly fears is not violence, it fears awareness. It fears a generation rising with clarity and conviction, a generation that refuses to bow down or be brainwashed.”

“The real “unlawful association” is the regime that floods civilian territories with military and paramilitary forces, plunders indigenous lands for corporate profit, dismantles peace efforts, and brands all dissent as criminal. It is the Indian State that repeatedly tramples on democratic principles and violates the rights of indigenous peoples with impunity. The extension of the ban is not a legal measure, it is a desperate attempt to silence a movement that it lacks the moral strength or political legitimacy to confront,” he stated.

According to him, the HNLC had rightfully appointed Advocate Fernando Shangpliang to represent its voice in court. 

“Yet, it is both disgraceful and revealing that the so-called tribunals, mere quasi-judicial bodies with no constitutional legitimacy brazenly ignore our representation. What kind of political, social, or judicial system refuses to even hear the voice of our jaidbynriew in a court of law? This is not the rule of law; this is the rule of oppression. When the voice of our jaidbynriew is denied even the basic space to speak, it proves that this system fears the truth we represent,” Nongtraw said.

“This is my message to the Indian government: You can ban the HNLC, but no tribunal can ever ban the spirit of a free people. No colonial court can silence the voice of intellectually independent Hynniewtrepians. 

And no law however “draconian” can extinguish the fire of a rightful and just cause. 

Your Hindustan or the so-called world’s largest democracy has never known true peace since 1947, and it never will. There is no peace structured on injustice, bloodshed, lies, misinformation, forced occupation, coercive integration, systematic indoctrination, and human rights violation. Any nation founded on such principles cannot sustain peace or ever truly experience it. The HNLC stands unwavering in its commitment to the liberation of Hynniewtrep. Our struggle is grounded in the principles of justice, dignity, and the inalienable right to self-governance,” he concluded.