Ceasefire with Garo militants extended
By IANSMonday, January 3, 2011
NEW DELHI - The government Monday extended by nine months a ceasefire agreement with a Garo militant group in Meghalaya with a pledge to carry on with the peace dialogue.
“It has been agreed that the suspension of operations agreement with the Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) Meghalaya will be extended for a further period of nine months from Jan 1,” a central home ministry statement said.
The agreement with the Meghalaya rebel group has been in force since July 2004.
“Discussions on the demands of the ANVC are continuing at the level of (government appointed interlocutor) P.C. Halder for peace talks,” the statement added.
The government also expressed satisfaction at the ceasefire agreement. The decision to extend the ceasefire comes a month after a joint monitoring group met last month in New Delhi and discussed various aspects of the agreement.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the state government, the home ministry, security agencies and senior leaders of the rebel outfit.
The ANVC formed in December 1995 aims to carve out a homeland called ‘Achik Land’ in the Garo Hills and a large chunk of Kamrup and Goalpara districts of Assam. They cite the ‘Garo majority’ in these areas as the argument for their demand.
