Somewhere in the Garo Hills, Dec. 10: The banned Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) wants former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A. Sangma as a facilitator in its peace talks with Delhi. In a recent exclusive interview to The Telegraph, ANVC general secretary Wanding Marak said the outfit had ?resolved to include Sangma in the peace talks?.
The ANVC, which talked of peace after a hiatus in the negotiation process following the killing of eight of its cadres by Meghalaya police, has been demanding a separate Garo state.
However, Garo leader Purno A. Sangma believes a separate state for the community is not ?a viable option?. Sangma, who has been pressing Delhi to start a dialogue with the ANVC, said in Shillong a couple of months ago that Meghalaya was a small state and another one could not be carved out of it.
The Congress-led Meghalaya government has not welcomed Sangma?s initiatives and chief minister D.D. Lapang had termed it as ?back door policy? for gaining political mileage.
?We are progressing with the peace talks in many ways and we want P. A. Sangma to be our facilitator in future talks with the Centre. It will be an honour for us and the people of Garo Hills,? the ANVC general secretary said.
The outfit, which has been cajoled by the church leaders to take up peace talks with the state government, appreciated the church?s efforts and said it would adopt a multi-pronged approach to the peace process.
?We have chosen church leaders to negotiate with the state government as the present government and the party of P.A. Sangma have differences,? Wanding Maraksaid.
Sangma, general secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), had carried a memorandum of the ANVC to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in 1999.
ANVC vice-president William Marak met Central Intelligence Bureau joint director Pandey and Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga at Bangkok in March this year, Wanding said.
Special director of Intelligence Bureau N.C. Padhi had recently said in Shillong the talks with the ANVC and some other outfits of the region would be tripartite, involving the state government.
The ANVC general secretary, however, reiterated the outfit?s demand for a ?safe passage? before starting any talks with the state government.
He further said the outfit would move Delhi for removing the ?banned? tag.
?We will ask the Centre to remove the banned tag because our demands are within the framework of the Constitution,? Marak said.