Shillong, Oct 22: The proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has reiterated that the outfit is ready for peace talks but it should be based on mutual respect and genuine political recognition.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, HNLC general secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw said the government should recognise the Hynniewtrep Nation as a distinct people and an equal party to any settlement.
“The HNLC does not exist to ‘demonstrate presence’ through violence, but to uphold the unbroken political existence of the Hynniewtrep Nation, an existence that stands beyond the reach of their guns or their laws. We have repeatedly expressed our readiness for peace talks grounded in mutual respect and genuine political recognition…. recognition of our national existence as a distinct people and as an equal party to any settlement, not subjugation under the so-called Indian Constitution that continues to deny our nationhood,” Nongtraw stated.
Meanwhile, the outfit has also condemned the recent remarks made by Director General of Police (DGP) Idashisha Nongrang, accusing her of being the ‘mouthpiece of a foreign power rather than the voice of her own people.’
The HNLC views the DGP’s comments as an attempt to undermine the legitimate struggle for Hynniewtrep sovereignty and an expression of loyalty to the Indian State rather than to the Hynniewtrep people.
“Her words only expose how far certain individuals of Hynniewtrep blood have drifted from their own roots and allegiance. It is tragic when one of our own chooses to be the mouthpiece of a foreign power rather than the voice of her own people,”
Nongtraw questioned the DGP’s reference to “our system and our country,” asking whose system and country she was referring to.
He claimed that the Hynniewtrep Nation has never surrendered its sovereignty nor accepted foreign domination, and that the HNLC’s existence is not to demonstrate presence through violence, but to uphold the unbroken political existence of the Hynniewtrep Nation.
