India News | Ready for Unconditional Talks : HNLC

Shillong, Feb 8 (PTI) The proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) on Tuesday said it is ready for unconditional talks with the Centre, a spokesperson of the group said.

Also Read | Hyderabad: Gold Worth Rs 20 Lakh Seized From Passenger At Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

The outfit urged the Centre to respond to its offer for peace and appoint an interlocutor to show the seriousness.

Also Read | Parliament Budget Session 2022: Congress, Other Opposition Parties Walk out of Lok Sabh over Hijab Row.

"As of now we are ready to talk within the ambit of the Constitution and we are ready to have talks without any preconditions ... If the GOI is willing then we are ready to go for a dialogue," HNLC general secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw said in a statement.

The aim is to end conflict, he said. "After decades of confrontation and sufferings we the HNLC decided to have a dialogue with the states and the Government of India in the hope that a peaceful solution shall be achieved leaving aside all bitterness."

The HNLC leader said the "killing" of the former general secretary Chesterfield Thangkhiew, who was in favour of peace talks and was assigned the task to carry forward the peace initiative with the Centre, in 2021 had derailed the peace process.

"As assured by some elders, the peace talks shall provide an excellent oppurtunity for the government to strengthen peace in the region," Nongtraw said.

The organisation was formed with the moral and arms support of Assam's ULFA in the 1980s and took up arms in the "interest of the jaidbynriew (tribe)" as its sole concern, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)