The former militant leader and one of the founders of the proscribed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militant outfit – Novembirth Ch Marak; is willing to contest into the 2023 assembly elections from the Chokpot constituency of Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills.

Addressing the mediapersons in Tura, Marak claimed that he has been striving to uplift education in the Chokpot region for a long time, and has opened upto five schools for the benefit of children in the villages.

“I have firsthand knowledge of the constituency’s lack of development. Despite Chokpot electing public officials for the past 50 years, there are no proper stretches, schools or even medical facilities,” – he stated.

Its worthy to note that Marak will be the second former militant leader to enter politics, after BJP’s Bernard N Marak who was elected to the Tura MDC seat of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) in 2021.

However, Marak was among five men who formed the outlawed group GNLA in East Garo Hills; an era what is described as another dark decade of militancy along the Garo Hills in 2010.

The GNLA was formed, after the A’Chik National Volunteers’ Council and its cadres signed a ceasefire with the state government, after more than ten years of terrorizing the population.