Shillong: Former IB chief PC Haldar,
the Centre`s interlocutor for talks with the banned Achik
National Volunteer Council (ANVC), on Monday arrived here for
holding negotiations with the Garo militant group.
Official sources said Haldar is likely to hold the
first round of talks with the group in Tura, the headquarter
town of West Garo Hills, as demanded by ANVC.
The banned group, which had entered into a tripartite
ceasefire with the Centre and the state in 2004, had
threatened to break the truce if the Centre failed to come up
with a `workable solution` to its demands.
The ANVC said it is not happy with the Centre`s
decision to extend the ceasefire periodically instead of
continuing it indefinitely.
Faced with the threat by the group to unilaterally end
the ceasefire, Chief Minister D D Lapang had rushed his deputy
Mukul Sangma on March 11 to New Delhi to impress upon the
Centre on the need for extension of ceasefire with the tribal
militant group before its March 31 expiry.
Last September, the group decided to keep its demand
for a separate state for Garos in abeyance for the time being.
Instead, it put forward the demand for the creation of
Garoland Autonomous Council, an autonomous body, for all the
three districts of Garo Hills - East, West and South - for
effective governance.
The ANVC also submitted a memorandum to the Centre,
demanding direct funding to the proposed council.
While around 80 cadres of the group are overground,
police say there are a few who have deserted the group and are
still in the jungles with some arms.
PTI
