A STATE-LEVEL convention was held at Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhavan in Agartala on January 8th at the joint call of state units of the central trade unions(CTU), class and mass organisations of the state. The convention has resolved to rescue the country from the onslaughts of the corporate-friendly government. It has given a call to make the two-day nationwide strike on February 23rd and 24th, a grand success.

The convention was attended by front-ranking workers of the Left trade unions, class and mass organisations at the sub-division level. It was presided by an eight-member praesidium headed by CITU state president Manik Deyand. They have resolved that the working class of the country must take the robust responsibility to protect the national integrity and preserve communal harmony which is under serious threat in the country because of the Hindutva chauvinists backed by the ruling BJP.  The working people of the state and the peasantry shall shoulder this responsibility with all their might and take the message of this convention to every house of the state, the members concluded.

A 13-point charter of demands was presented by Sankar Prasad Datta, general secretary of state CITU. It was adopted with high applause. Reinstatement of 10,323 retrenched teachers was promised by the ruling BJP in its election manifesto was adopted in the central charter. 

The main speaker Manik Dey said that the country is languishing in every sphere. Prices of essential commodities and the hike of prices of petroleum products have crossed all limits rendering the people unheard-of sufferings. The economic structure of the country is on the verge of collapse. The BJP-led government, instead of giving relief to the distressed people, is handing over national properties that were built up bit by bit with decades-long initiatives to its corporate friends. Instead of job creation to absorb the unemployed youths, the government is toeing the path of abolishing lakhs of government posts, he said. 

Manik Dey said that the government is trying to roll back the existing measures of social security of the working class and it also hit the peasantry of the country. The minimum support price of their product is denied by the government. He said that the peasants have won a big battle, but they have to strive for a far bigger battle. To divert peoples’ attention from the real crisis, to break the mutual solidarity between the working class and peasantry to one’s struggle by another, the ruling BJP has been resorting to dividing the people on religious line and division of caste and creed etc. The religious hate campaign of the BJP leaders and some pro-BJP Sadhus is an imminent threat to the integrity of the country.  He said that the unity of the people is a must to frustrate the dubious plot of the ruling BJP. 

Commenting on state affairs, Manik Dey said, as the same party is running the centre and the state, the policies of the state may not be different from that of the centre. Rather, the state has been witnessing a new design of fascist terror with a desperate bid of the ruling forces to cripple the opposition, snatching away the right to vote, fundamental rights, human rights and even right to live. This has been going on for the last four years in the state. Thus, the call of ‘Save the country’, ‘Save the people’, is also equally relevant for the people of Tripura, Manik Dey concluded.  

 The convention has decided to organise similar conventions at the sub-division level. By this time several sub-division level conventions of the Left trade unions and class and mass organisations have been completed. 

The convection was addressed by CITU state president Manik Dey, Dhanamani Singh of AITUC, Raghunath Sarkar of TUCC, Dipak Deb of UTUC, and the representatives of  Tripura employees coordination committee,   AIKS, AIAWU, AIDWA, AILU, SC coordination committee, BSNL employees union, DYFI, Tripura Rajya Upajati Ganamukti Parishad, SFI, ONGC employees union.