Shillong, Jan 31:The state government will have to follow the guidelines of Ministry of Home Affairs as far as pending cases involving HNLC are concerned.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma told reporters on Wednesday that dropping of charges involving the HNLC will depend on case to case basis.
He said the terms and conditions cannot be changed as they are the same for all militant organisations.
The HNLC wanted the government to withdraw all pending criminal cases against its members.
Governor Phagu Chauhan had on January 26 reiterated the commitment of the MDA government to resume talks with the HNLC as per the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Addressing the gathering at Polo Ground on the occasion of 75th Republic Day, the governor had said, “The Government is committed to bring lasting peace to the State and once again reiterates that it is open to having talks with the HNLC within Indian’s constitutional framework and as per the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
However, speaking to reporters, Conrad said that the matter related to amnesty has been discussed on a case to case basis.
“There are some cases which are heinous in nature. So everything will be dealt with separately but these cannot be talked about as blanket order saying that all cases are being withdrawn as it depends on case to case to basis,” the chief minister said.
He added, “There are standard conditions that are there for all and hence if we change those conditions for some organisations then it becomes difficult to have a uniform platform which fits all the organisations because the terms and conditions cannot be changed. Therefore, whatever terms and conditions that we used and laid down for other organisations, the same conditions are being put for HNLC peace talks also”, he added.
To a query as to whether the peace process will continue, Conrad said the government has only seen a letter from the HNLC conveying its decision not to continue with the peace talks. “Therefore, we have urged them that look, there will always be challenges, there will always be certain things which can be ironed out and ultimately the desire to have peace is what is most important,” he said.
He said the government is still open to have discussion with the HNLC and appealed to the group to reconsider its decision and continue with the peace talks
“We are open to discussion and talks and we urge them that they should continue with the peace talks,” he added.
