Achik land or Garo Hills of Western Meghalaya, has been yearning for peace which is still elusive.   Violence in the form of murder, extortion, kidnapping, intimidations have ran amuck, the law and order enforcement as if hide and seek with militancy which has become the order of the day, while the ordinary citizens specially women folk, lead a life of uncertainty and anxiety, always in peril. Amidst this alarming situation of insecurity of life and property, the political battle continue unabated, since the last parliamentary general election, which the people  had braved to exercise their franchise, putting their fate once again in the hands of veteran and experienced politician Purno Aghitok Sangma, leader of the National people Party.

The NPP supremo, took his first opportunity to voice in the Lok Sabha, the concern of the people of Garo Hills, seeking to douse the present burning situation, by taking a political step, in axing the present Congress Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, blaming him for this unprecedented rise of militancy, further incrimating the Chief Minister having a nexus with militant elements.

In fact the number of insurgent outfits have mushroomed from ten to eighteen in the past four years. According to records available, the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) is in the forefront. Formed in 2010, is known to have over 200 cades with around 110 new recruits. The key demand of the GNLA is the creation of a separate Achik land or Garo state. The Union government has however made it clear that the demand for a separate Achik land outside Meghalaya is not negotiable, according to J.P.N.Singh, Director in charge, North East Ministry of Home Affairs, though peace talks with the outfit is negotiable.

The NPP of supremo Purno Sangma, who won the Tura seat in  the Lok Sabha elections, out sing the Congress candidate, had on its main agenda of the NPP manifesto, the demand of Achik land or Garo state. Purno Sangma who addressed Parliament on June 10, 2014, had put forward and voiced the separate state demand for other ethnic groups of the North Eastern region, including the creation of Kamatapur, Bodoland and Karbi, as he argued that smaller states would usher in good administration.

It was indeed the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) formed way back in 1996 which had initiated the demand for creation of Achik land, but later scaled down for the creation of a Garoland Autonomous Council, in line with the Bodoland Territorial Council of Assam. The ANVC had later agreed to the strengthening of the existing Garo Hills Autonomous District Council. The separate state demand is also backed up by the civil organization, the ‘Garo Hills State Movement Committee’. 

Sumar Sing Sawian

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