ON June 11, red and green streams of tribal people, symbolising GMP and TYF and hailing from the hills of Tripura, had come down to Agartala and practically took over the capital city heralding the message that howsoever mighty the ruling forces may be, they must face the ire of the people if they do not perform. The marchers resolved to frustrate the hateful plot to break traditional unity and amity between tribals and non-tribals in the state. 

The decorated procession of tribal people chanting slogans started from Paradise Chowmohani and marched through the main roads of the city towards Kunjaban where the procession was stopped by the police. During the march of about 4 km, the commuters standing on either side of the road greeted the marchers. When the head of the procession reached Kunjaban after walking for an hour, the tail of it remained at its starting point.  

MANIK SARKAR LASHES AT DIVISIVE FORCES

Severely lashing out at TipraMotha for its divisive slogan of tribal sectarianism Manik Sarkar said the principal motto of the TipraMotha is to break the unity and amity between tribals and the Bengalis so that the democratic unity of the people does not strengthen. Explaining the history of such identity politics with the innocent tribals, Manik Sarkar said playing with tribal sectarianism is not new in the state. It started in 1967, from the womb of Agartala palace giving birth to TUJS. In course of time, it took several colours taking different names like THPP, INPT, IPFT, and now the Tipra Motha. None of these so-called tribal parties did raise the issues relating to basic economic problems faced by the tribal people such as price hikes, unemployment, scarcity of food and work, absence of assured drinking water supply, faulty irrigation plants, demand for an Act for providing MSP for agricultural produce, frequently interrupted power supply, corruptions in allotment of houses, absence of minimum health service, non-maintenance of village roads etc.   Unfortunately, while the TipraMotha is over-concerned with absurd unfeasible demand for ‘Greater Tipra Land’, it is equally neglectful about all these basic economic issues of the tribals, Manik Sarkar asserted.  

Highlighting the demands of the GMP-TYF joint programme, Manik Sarkar said, don’t believe that the governor would materialise all the demands. Either we must compel the government to implement this charter through intensified united democratic movement, or you have to install such a government that will accept this. For this purpose, we have to widen the orbit of the democratic movement and protect the traditional tribal-nontribal amity and unity. 

Greeting the marchers for attending the rally from distant places of the state defying the red eyes of the ruling miscreants, Jitendra Chaudhury said this rally would be a milestone in the history of the democratic movement in the state. The last descendent of the royal family says tribals should be united for ‘Greater Tipra Land’, a deceptive demand indeed. The GMP-TYF calls for the tribals to be united for further empowerment of the TTAADC, so that it may be an instrument for socio-economic and cultural upliftment of the tribals in the true sense. The tribals along with other democratic forces must be united to compel the BJP government to keep the promise they made in the ‘vision document’ during the assembly election in 2018. 

Lambasting the TipraMotha for its non-performance in the ADC even in the acute crisis of food and work, providing minimum health services, collapsing village communications for want of maintenance of roads, Jitendra Chaudhury said, TipraMotha executive members in the TTAADC instead of delivering good to the tribal people are now engaged in misappropriation of ADC fund, as the BJP leaders have been doing with the funds meant for various welfare schemes of the government. TipraMotha raised the slogan ‘Greater Tipra land’ which is echoing the divisive slogans of several extremist outfits in various times such as ‘Swadhin Tripura, ‘drive out foreigners’, ‘IndependentNorth-East’ etc. And now, the Tipra Motha is playing politics with the emotion of the innocent tribals in the name of ‘Greater Tipra land’.  

The senior leader of the GMP Aghore Debbarma said, during the last four years, the tribal people were in a suffocating atmosphere. Terror and intimidations are the main tools to suppress the protest against anti-people measures of the government. This would not work for long. It is time to stand united to resist. We must live in the midst of struggle else embrace death.

GMP general secretary, Radhacharan Debbarma, Naresh Jamatia and TYF general secretary, Kumode Debbarma also addressed the rally. 

A four-member delegation comprising GMP president Jitendra Chowdhury and general secretary Radhacharan Debbarma and TYF president Kousik Roy Debbarma and general secretary KumodeD ebbarma handed over the 11-point charter of demands to the secretary to Governor in absence of the later.  

CHARTER OF DEMANDS:

·        For further empowering the TTA-ADC, both administrative and financial,   immediately pass “The 125th Constitution Amendment Bill” lying pending in the parliament for the years together.

·        KOK-BOROK, which is the mother tongue of the majority tribal people of the State must be included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. Necessary steps must be taken to develop languages of other communities like Chakma,  Mog and Halam etc., communities. 

·        CAA which is designed to provoke division of the Indian citizens on religious lines and against the spirit of our Constitution must be revoked immediately. 

·        The village committee election under TTAADC is pending for more than a year. This election must be conducted forthwith. 

·        The vacant posts in various government departments must not be abolished. All the vacant posts must be filled up soon maintaining a cent per cent reservation roster for SC and ST communities along with the backlog. Enact a bill immediately providing SC, and ST reservations in recruitment in the private sector. 

·        Ensure 200 man-days work for each MGNREGA worker and enhance wage to Rs 600 per day. 

·        A special drive may be undertaken by the government to ensure the development of roads, regular supply of safe drinking water, uninterrupted supply of power and maintenance of the irrigation projects including in the TTAADC areas.

·        The 10,323 retrenched teachers may be reinstated in the government departments on humanitarian grounds. 

·        The cases of de-listed social pensioners must be reviewed and those having no valid ground for delisting, must be enlisted for a pension again with arrears.   

·         The separate land allotment committee for the TTAADC areas and the earlier procedure for obtaining consent from the TTAADC in any allotment proposal must be restored forthwith.

·         Initiate appropriate political and administrative measures to restore rule of law in the state, which is totally missing during the last 51 months of the BJP-IPFT rule.