TURA, Dec 17 ? The banned A?chik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) have issued its last warning urging non-Garos not to contest the coming Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) elections and have threatened retribution against anyone who refuses to follow its diktat.
In a communique to a section of the media the Commander-in-Chief of the ANVC, Jerome Momin, stated that unlike previous years this elections would be completely different because this time the ANVC would not permit any non-Garo from contesting the council elections from any of the twenty-nine constituencies of the Garo Hills. The outfit has threatened to execute any candidate who does so. The ANVC chief has openly urged upon all political parties to desist from releasing names of non-Garo candidates for contesting the February 12 elections and have given them time to reconsider their decision.
Giving reasons for the opposition to non-Garo candidates, the ANVC chief stated that the District Council came into being for the uplift of the tribals through the 6th Schedule in the Constitution of India. He said that the Council was created for the Garos and the non-Garos had no part to play in the governance of the Garo Hills. ?We have seen from past records and experiences that non-Garos have had no interest for the development of our State. Instead of pooling the available resources for developmental activities, the non-Garos have been exporting our valuable assets outside the region bringing in poverty and bad-governance,? accused Jerome Momin. He termed such exports similar to a marriage ceremony of a non-Garo in which the groom takes away all the precious items from the house of the bride. ?Unlike others, we the Garos follow the matrilineal system giving utmost importance to the clan and the land. The non-Garos need to first understand our language and culture? stated the ANVC chief.