ACHIK National Volunteer Council (ANVC) has again spurned the Lapang offer for talks. The chief minister has roped in the Garo Baptist Convention as a negotiator. The move has not met with any success, going by the turn of events. Lapang appears to have not lost his nerve. He is taking the set back in his stride. What is more he has asked the GBC to go ahead with its mission. ANVC rejection is true to its style. It has however come close on the heels of Meghalaya police claim that that they had killed eight ANVC activists in an encounter on Sept 26. Ten other activists were also arrested in the operation carried out in West Garo Hills district on known hideouts. Sizeable quantity of arms and ammunition was also seized. Naturally, ANVC was not pleased. Jerome Momin, the “commander-in-chief”, outright rejected the peace offer and police claim in a statement circulated to the media. He branded the eight dead as innocent civilians and said it was a ‘cold blooded murder’ by the police.

Soon after hearing the Momin remarks, the chief minister Lapang went into huddle with his close aides. That was on September 29. He claims to have worked out a clear road map for counter insurgency operations and peace process. These are yet to be made public. The police encounter raised eyebrows in certain quarters with some questioning the timing of the move when the government initiated a peace process after appointing Grover C R Marak, president of Garo Baptist Convention, as an official facilitator for talks with ANVC. Home Minister R G Lyngdoh contends that while asking the militants to come for dialogue, the government would not remain a mute spectator to militancy. “We will not allow unlawful activities by any outlawed organisation”, he declared. RGL made it clear that government was not against the ultras but only their illegal activities affecting the society.  He admitted that militancy had crippled the state’s economy and investors were hesitant to invest in the state not because of the lack of resources, but due to insecurity. Insurgency is a result of unemployment but extremism has done more damage; had there been no insurgency, lot of employment opportunities could have been created, he believes sincerely.

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