No dialogues with militants unless they surrender: Kropha

From Staff Correspondent

SHILLONG, May 18: Meghalaya Chief Secretary KS Kropha said that there will be no dialogue with militants unless they surrender. The Chief Secretary said, “It is notified that no proscribed militant or terror outfit will be entertained unless they shun their anti-tiol activities”. The statement of the Chief Secretary assumed significance in view of the number of surrenders by the top leaders of the Garo tiol Liberation Army (GNLA) and the recent threat of the Hynniewtrep Liberation Council (HNLC) to trigger a blast in some prominent areas in Shillong. The police, though successful in Garo hills in the past two weeks, have not taken the threats of the HNLC lightly. However, the Chief Secretary gave a pat in the back to the police for ensuring free and fair polls in the Tura Parliamentary seat. “I could see that the spate of surrenders and the subsequent polls as a good sign,” Kropha stated, even as he added that the trend in Garo hills indicated that the path for peaceful solution is on the anvil. “We could foresee a positive future if the militant outfits are ready to abide with the guidelines laid by the Union Government”, Kropha stated. On every sphere, it is the Centre that takes cognizance and there is no likelihood that it would enter with any dialogue with any armed outfits, he categorically stated.