SHILLONG, May 20 ? NCP General Secretary P A Sangma today said he was working as a ?facilitator? of talks between the Centre and some insurgent groups of Meghalaya with the knowledge of the Union Government, reports PTI. ??I am doing my bit as a facilitator to bring some insurgent groups for a dialogue with the Centre and I reiterate that I am doing it with the knowledge of the Government of India??, Sangma, a Lok Sabha member from Meghalaya, told reporters here without naming the militant outfits. He said if any politician took any initiative to bring insurgent groups to the negotiating table for a dialogue with a view to restore peace in the State or country, it could not be termed as ?nexus? between the two.
The Government should be clear about its definition of ?nexus?, the former Lok Sabha Speaker said in an apparent reference to Meghalaya Government?s objection to the status of a ?facilitator? Meghalaya Home Minister R G Lyngdo had recently said the State had written a letter to the Centre seeking to know if Sangma or Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga or a former minister were ?authorised? to facilitate talks with the banned Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) militants of the Garo Hills region.
If the Meghalaya Government or a minister of the Centre did not know the process ??that is not my fault, but the Prime Minister is in the knowledge of it??, he claimed. The MP said the Central Government perhaps did not feel it necessary to inform the State about the peace process at this stage, Sangma said.