ON November 17, the governor of Tripura extended the rule of administrator in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC, briefly called as ADC) for another six months. This implies that the BJP-led government is not contemplating to hold the ADC election to hand over the administrative charge to elected representatives in near future.

The tenure of ADC expired on May 17, 2020.  The leader of the outgoing Left Front Council which had the strength of 27 members in the 28-member Council (after expulsion of one member for disruptive activities) had resigned one day before the date of expiry. The election was due in the month of April-May this year but, reasonably, election could not be held due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. 

Being the most intolerable to any opposition elected body, immediately after assuming state power in March 2018, the BJP-led state government was trying to cripple the Left Front-led ADC Council financially, politically and by administrative intervention. Financial allocations for the ADC were reduced drastically. Most of the budgetary allocations were released unusually late so that those could not be utilised within the financial year. Any autonomous body for the purpose of proper functioning and rendering good work to its people primarily requires sincere cooperation of the state government concerned. But on the contrary, the BJP-led government in Tripura was showing political intolerance against the ADC and had remotely manoeuvered to submit to the governor a no-confidence letter by so-called ADC members in the last part of 2019.  The shrewd attempt to topple the Left-led ADC Council was immediately proved to be false and fabricated and thus the devious drive of the BJP got frustrated.

Despite all odds, limitations and utter non-cooperation on behalf of the state government, the Left-led ADC Council had set instances of commendable performance in transparent manner in upgrading the tribal people economically, culturally and in carrying out relief operation during the crisis period of lockdown.  

Though there are instances in the country that the elected local bodies which completed tenure during the Covid-19 pandemic, were retained and allowed to continue functioning till the new elected body comes up through election, this generous approach is unexpected from the power hungry, rabidly anti-communist BJP. In the meantime, six months elapsed and the ADC had been put under the administrator’s rule. The people of Tripura had taken this interim arrangement quite natural. However, the people expected, the election would be held as and when the pandemic situation eases off. Now that the rule of Administrator has been extended for another six months, the people suspect that the Covid-19 pandemic appeared as a boon to the ruling BJP to run the ADC by themselves through an Administrator at least for another six months.

By this time, assembly election in one of the big states like Bihar has been held amidst the pandemic. Notification for election to Bodoland Territorial Council election in neighboring Assam state has been declared to be held in December 7 this year. Thus, no argument stands for withholding the election to ADC in Tripura. 

Any sensible man can easily guess the reasons elsewhere behind depriving the people of ADC areas from enjoying autonomy by their elected representatives. The BJP is leading an alliance government in Tripura with the IPFT, which is known to be open political platform of the outlawed NLFT extremist outfit. IPFT grabbed ADC under gunpoint in 2000. Their main demand is creation of ‘Separate Twipra Land’, which is a revised shape of ‘Swdhin Tripura” demand of NLFT extremists. In 2017, the BJP lent tacit patronage to the IPFT in their disruptive programme of 11-day national highway blockade demanding separate Twipra land, the demand which the BJP opposes overtly. Now a tug of war is going on between the two ruling parties over sharing of seats in ADC. Several rounds of discussions were held between BJP central leaders and IPFT leaders in Delhi on the issue without any concrete outcome. On the other hand, though the BJP is largely dependent on IPFT to contest ADC election, at the grassroots level the cadres of both the alliance partners are at loggerheads and sometimes they create law and order problem. Recently BJP state president Manik Saha was harassed by IPFT cadres at Jampaijala in worst manner.

The CPI(M) state secretariat, in a statement, severely criticised the notification of the governor extending the administrator’s rule in ADC for another six months and termed it as an undemocratic and authoritarian drive of the government. ADC must be governed by the people concerned through their elected representatives. The government must arrange election to the ADC without any further delay, the statement demanded. 

RESTORING NORMALCY IN KANCHANPUR
On November 21, an agitating Srikanta Das was shot to death by the police at Panisagar of North Tripura district. In the same area, Biswajit Debbarma, a fire service worker, was lynched to death by the agitating mob. In the same spot, three more persons received bullet injury and they are now under treatment. Opening fire targeting the agitating people at Panisagar evoked serious repercussion all over the state. From November 16 onwards, a total bandh was being observed at Kanchanpur Sub Division of North Tripura at the call of the ‘Joint Movement Committee’, which was formed demanding rehabilitation of the Mizoram Reang Refugees in a decentralised manner spreading in all the districts instead of centralised rehabilitation in one sub-division or district. Considering the demographic character, population density, cultural diversity and more importantly the economic aspects of the people of Kanchanpur Sub-Division, the demand carries high logic. The movement committee was repeatedly trying to draw the matter to the notice of the government and meet the chief minister to pursue their issues, but in vain. At last when the people came to know that a tender for house construction was called to accommodate most of the Reang Refugees at Kanchanpur Sub-Division alone, in protest the Joint Movement Committee called for an indefinite strike in the Sub Divisional area from November 16. The committee wanted to meet the chief minister. But the chief minister out of his positional ego denied a meeting with the movement leaders. The agitating people then blocked the national highway at Panisagar where the police resorted to open fire on the agitators to clear blockade on November 21.

The CPI(M) state secretariat, in a statement, said that instead of sorting out the crisis through high-level discussion with the movement committee, both the governments adopted a stubborn attitude that led to this saddened consequence. The CPI(M) conveyed sympathy to both the victim families and demanded a high-level investigation into the incident. The statement also urged the Movement Committee to call off the movement to restore normalcy in the sub-division.

Earlier, the CPI(M) Tripura state secretariat, in a statement on November 19, demanded the deadlock be removed urgently by discussion among central and state governments with the Movement Committee. People made to suffer  for indefinite period due to the movement is not at all desirable. Peace, amity and fraternity among the cross section of the people must be maintained, the statement emphasized. 

There is a long history of tripartite discussions and various attempts for their repatriation. At one time, a small section of the refuges could be sent back and resettled inside Mizoram. But they did not feel safe both physically and economically as the gestation package and security arrangement were not to their satisfaction. Thus, they returned to Tripura again.

Referring to the past events, the statement mentioned that following a violent incident inside Mizoram in 1997, several thousand Reang families crossed over to Kanchanpur for safety of lives. The then Left Front government arranged their shelter, food and other logistic support on humanitarian ground. The Left Front government requested both the Congress-led central and Mizoram governments to create appropriate atmosphere for arranging their repatriation in their own state through discussion with the refugee leaders. But neither government did move in that direction.

After assuming office in 2018, the BJP government in Tripura set aside the very just demand of the refugees to be resettled on their own land in Mizoram. They finalised a deal in a quadripartite discussion, to rehabilitate them inside Tripura. Before finalising this deal, the government did not show least courtesy to discuss the matter with the opposition parties. The CPI(M) condemned the role of the central, state and Mizoram governments behind this deal which created such a deadlock at present.