WHILE Tripura has long been renowned for its rich legacy of communal harmony and fraternal coexistence among diverse religious and ethnic communities, there is now a planned effort, patronised by the ruling BJP, to disrupt this amity and fraternity. This calculated design aims to sow seeds of distrust along religious and ethnic lines.

The tribal wing of the ruling BJP, known as "Janajati Morcha," operating under the guise of "Janajati Suraksha Manch," an RSS outfit, has initiated a movement to delist tribals who either belong to or have converted to Christianity from the Schedule Tribe category and to stop reservation benefits for this group as stipulated in the Constitution. A rally in support of these demands is scheduled to take place in Agartala city on December 25, a day that is observed by all sections of people as Bara Din (Christmas Day) in this region. And the government has granted permission for this provocative programme.

In 1993, a mosque was discovered in a dense forest near the Indo-Bangladesh border in Dimatali, Rajnagar area, under Belonia sub-division of South Tripura. Subsequent to its discovery, Muslim devotees began regularly doing prayers there. Remembering the previous year's (1992) demolition of the Babri Masjid, a fair named 'Samhati Mela' (Solidarity Fair) was organised on this mosque's lawn, under the aegis of Anil Sarkar, the then minister for information and culture, under the Left Front government. This programme, held on December 6, 1993, attracted a diverse array of people, including people from bordering areas in Bangladesh. Since its initiation, the 'Samhati Mela' has evolved into an annual festival for the local community. Even during the BJP regime from 2018 to 2022, there were no objections raised concerning the mosque or the spontaneous gathering of people from various religious backgrounds at the 'Samhati Mela.'

This year, members of the Sangh Parivar and BJP have suddenly started claiming that the mosque bears a resemblance to the 'Jagannath Temple' and have prevented Muslims from entering the premises. The popular name and theme of the annual fair have also been changed to 'Bikshit Bharat Nirman Sankalp and Tourism Mela.' The government has established a police picket to restrict access to the mosque by Muslims. On December 10, chief minister Manik Saha inaugurated the fair in front of the mosque, with Sangh Parivar and BJP supporters presenting him with an image of the mosque, labeling it as a 'Jagannath Temple.' This created profound agony among the Muslim minority and the general public.

In May and December of this year, BJP leaders, under the aegis of the local BJP MLA, orchestrated the demolition of houses belonging to seven Muslim families in Raiyabari of Udaipur Sub-Division, Gomati District, with bulldozers. These families, who had resided there for generations, have been left homeless as a result. Additionally, rubber plantations established by Muslim families in the area are being damaged or completely destroyed. These actions have taken place with the tacit approval of local BJP leadership. Muslim graveyards across the state are facing encroachment by members of the Sangh Parivar, with instances of denial for burying the dead. In some locations, Hindu temple structures are hastily erected on these encroached lands. In response to these distressing developments, representatives of the State Jamiyat Ulema Hind, led by its president Mufti Taibur Rahaman, met with the chief minister on December 17. They submitted a memorandum urging proper protection and the maintenance of the status quo for Wakf properties and Muslim graveyards in the state.

Strongly denouncing the provocative actions of the BJP leaders with the implicit support of the BJP-led government, Jitendra Chaudhury, CPI(M) state secretary and leader of the Left Group in the Tripura assembly, stated during a press conference that the demand to de-recognise Christian tribals as Schedule Tribes is tantamount to waging war against all tribals. Such a stance goes against the spirit of the Constitution, which categorizes Schedule Tribes and Schedule Castes based on socio-economic perspectives and enshrines the right to religious practice as a fundamental right. He asserted that this move is in line with the implementation of the RSS ideology which preaches  that in a Hindu State, followers of other religions would either have to convert to Hinduism or become subordinate subjects.

Criticising the role of Tipra Motha on these issues, Jitendra Chaudhury stated that the BJP government has initiated a comprehensive assault against the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTA-ADC). This includes withholding funds owed to it, delaying village committee elections for three years without any justification, and allowing hundreds of schools within the TTA-ADC areas to deteriorate due to a lack of teachers. Tribal families are being forced to sell their newborn babies out of extreme poverty. In essence, the BJP government has adopted a policy of complete non-cooperation with the TTA-ADC, with an aim to weaken it. In this critical situation, while the BJP is actively pursuing a divisive agenda to disrupt tribal unity along religious lines, Tipra Motha, despite adopting the war cry of 'Thansa' (Unity), has conspicuously refrained from condemning these divisive actions. This duplicity by Tipra Motha has become evident to the people of Tripura.

Jitendra Chaudhury urged the chief minister to stall the provocative actions of his followers. He called upon the people to remain vigilant and safeguard the fraternal unity of the state at all costs, despite facing provocations. Sudhan Das, former MLA and general secretary of Tripura Tapashili Jati Samannay Samiti, a constituent of the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, also expressed grave concern over the unfolding developments during the press meeting.