The peace process between the Government and rebels of the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) in Meghalaya has received a setback with the HNLC rebuffing peace overtures made by the Church leaders, and censuring the Church in unambiguous terms for failing to protect the interests of Khasi tribals. As the Church is busy explaining its non-partisan role to the militants and civil society at large, peace attempts have floundered in the State. 

   The HNLC defiance was clear from its four-page brochure entitled ‘We pay homage to our martyrs’. In the handout, the outfit advised the Church leaders to ‘ask the government to stop creating trouble for the Khasi people in the name of governance’.  The outfit also warned that it is ‘identifying all those traitors who have been helping its enemies and once the process is completed, it would unleash its wrath upon them.’

   These defiant words make some things clear. First, the outfit is in no mood for peace and is confident of surviving counter-insurgency operations.  Secondly, it seems weary of dissent in its own ranks. The recovery of two bodies of former HNLC cadres in Shillong indicates its resolve to eradicate discord within its ranks. However, what is evident in the handout is its growing sense of alienation from dominant sections of the society. It has criticised the administrative machinery comprising of the government and the police, but has also come down harshly on the Church, the Syiems (traditional chiefs) and the Bkhraws (elders). By its own admission, it seems frustrated that in its ki khun ki hajar (sons of the soil movement), it gets little support from the society it is promoting.  

   However, this provides little solace for the common people who have grown accustomed to living in fear in Meghalaya. The police have been unable to arrest the slide in the law and order situation. Due to the lack of army deployment to date, the State has become a hunting ground for two insurgent outfits, the HNLC and the ANVC (Achik National Volunteers Council), and also a safe house for militants from neighbouring Assam. Life in the capital city of Shillong comes to a grinding halt before the evening hours. 

   But the threat perception from the two outfits in the State, by the Central and State governments is dissimilar. Both the HNLC and the ANVC were declared unlawful associations by the Union government in November 2000, but the former Chief Minister, EK Mawlong, went on record saying that his government had not made any such recommendations, and the Centre might have acted on its own. Now the tables have turned. Crime rates remain high in the State, but the Central government is in no mood to accede to the State government’s demand for reinforcements.

   In 2001, 40 deaths were reported from the State due to insurgency incidents.  These small numbers, however, do not reflect the intensity of violence in the State. Importantly, beginning with 1998, fatalities have shown signs of escalation. Twenty deaths were reported in 1998, 22 in 1999 and 36 in 2000. The ratio of deaths of security force personnel to militants remains alarmingly high.  Since 1996, when a security force person was killed in the State, 50 security personnel compared to only 27 militants have been killed. The police in this hill state are too few in number. With just two State police battalions and an additional IRB battalion to supplement the regular police force, insurgents have a free run at most times. Inaccessible terrain helps the militants to move about undetected. In the capital, too, the HNLC has engaged the police force on Republic and Independence Days in cross firing and managed to escape without casualties.

   Induction of the army might not be the best solution to fighting insurgency in Meghalaya. The army is always viewed as an alien force by the people, as the army personnel, mostly, are from states outside of the northeastern region and are ignorant of local sensibilities. Hence, deployment of the army might reverse the process of alienation looming large on the insurgents. Besides, army personnel will need time to familiarise themselves with the terrain of the State. The answer lies in the modernisation of the police force. In addition to augmenting the number of police personnel, areas like weaponry, communications and intelligence need prompt upgradation. Remote police stations need to be urgently modernised. The slide of Meghalaya from a land of peace to a safe house for insurgents must be prevented.