Shillong, Jan 16: Amnesty or safe passage , Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Monday refused to divulge the nature of the official communication from the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) on the ongoing peace talks.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Conrad did not want to share details of the communication. “We have further sent the communication for the information and for a reply from the Centre government”, he said.
“And as we get the reply, we will further communicate with them ( HNlC) and take the talks forward,” he assured.
To a question whether the communication from the HNLC is regarding providing amnesty, the Chief Minister said, “There are certain matters as this requires discussion at certain levels so it will not be proper for me to discuss”.
When asked whether the NIA probe against the HNLC leaders will hamper the peace talks, Conrad said,” The recent NIA’s decision to summon the top HNLC leaders was a normal procedure and when the investigation is on then they are called for, it is not like they have come up with some kind of arrest warrant against them, it is a question of calling them for questioning – so those concerns have also been communicated to Delhi. As I said, whatever the issue may be, we are committed to finding a way forward”.
Baki card of AITC
Conrad called the opposition All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)’s ‘We Card’ & ‘MYE Card’ as “baki card” and said that the FOCUS and FOCUS+ are real schemes which have helped the people of the state to a large extent.
Conrad said the We Card and the MYE Card are promises of the TMC and people in the villages have registered and taken the cards and “they are all saying its a baki card”.
Post poll alliance
Conrad said his party will take a call on a post poll alliance based on the election results.
“The NPP has always maintained that it is going to fight the elections on its own and never have a pre-poll alliance, that’s our principle that we always follow but as I said post-election, yes, we are always discussing with like-minded parties and that is the situation we will see when it comes,” he said.
