Shillong, January 6: Tempers are running high among doctors in Meghalaya over the government’s refusal to negotiate with the banned Achik National Liberation Council (ANVC) to secure the release of East Garo Hills District Health and Medical Officer P.N. Bezbaruah, who was abducted recently.
The F.A. Khonglam-led NCP coalition government has also refused to cough up the Rs 20-lakh ransom demanded by the Achik National Liberation Council.
The Chief Minister told The Indian Express he had left it to the police and district administration to secure Bezbaruah’s release. But added he expected family members of the abducted doctor to be holding talks with the banned outfit.
However, the medical community in Meghalaya is questioning the tough posture adopted by the state government. Doctors under the banner of the Meghalaya Medical Service Association (MMSA) recently held a three-day strike to protest against the abduction and to mount pressure on the government to secure release of Bezbaruah. The government then assured them it would ensure Bezbaruah returned safe and sound and also promised to either withdraw doctors from insurgency-affected areas or give security to them.
Doubting the government’s assurances, Meghalaya Medical Service Association general secretary A. War wonders how it is going to keep them without talking to the Achik National Liberation Council . He warns that the Meghalaya Medical Service Association would review the progress in the case on January 9 and accordingly decide on its next course of action.
Incidentally, while the government claims it will neither negotiate with the Achik National Liberation Council nor pay it ransom, the buzz doing the rounds is that talks are on in secret. With Assembly elections nearing, the government can hardly afford to let the situation get out of hand.
Meghalaya Director General of Police L. Sailo says police have identified the place where the doctor is being held captive by the Achik National Liberation Council but since it is situated inside a dense forest, they are in a position of disadvantage. However, citing the ‘‘safe rescue’’ of an abducted doctor from Jaintia hills recently, Sailo adds he hopes to repeat it in Bezbaruah’s case.