BJP takes advantage of Tripura royal scion’s simplicity: Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman

AGARTALA: Tripura Congress MLA and former BJP minister Sudip Roy Barman accused the BJP-led governments at the center and state of exploiting the simplicity of TIPRA Motha’s founder and Tripura royal scion, Pradyot Manikya Debbarma, in signing the tripartite agreement last week, thus cheating the indigenous people of the state.

However, chief minister Saha denied Roy Barman's assertion about TIPRA Motha, stating that the Government of India has consistently worked towards making the Northeast a conflict-free region over the past decade.

He emphasized that the tripartite agreement laid the foundation for addressing the issues of Tripura's indigenous people, with several rounds of talks held among the stakeholders before signing the accord.

“The agreement was signed after TIPRA Motha leaders were convinced of their future and such apprehension doesn’t have any base but rather an attempt to mislead the direction of a good happening for the betterment of indigenous people of the state. Let's look at it positively – we are committed to ensuring inclusive development and prime minister Narendra Modi has proved it,” CM said.

Roy Barman said on his demand, chief minister Manik Saha had made a statement in the assembly on Tuesday but the Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen did not allow discussion on the premise and its prospect for the welfare of the indigenous communities of Tripura, and said, “Going beyond the parliamentary practice Speaker not even allowed clarification on CM’s statement.”

The tripartite agreement between TIPRA Motha, India, and Tripura governments has lacked clarity and failed to throw light on what direction things would move in the future, he stated adding, “Even when we draft an agreement for giving property in rent, we make sure that all the terms and conditions are mentioned clearly. Surprisingly, the piece of paper that is being celebrated as an achievement fails to give enough clarity on what efforts would be undertaken for the welfare of the tribal.”


From the Chief Minister's statement, it transpired that the Central government would form a Joint Committee/Group with all stakeholders to address the demands related to the implementation of issues concerning Tripura's indigenous people, including history, land rights, political rights, economic development, identity, culture, and language. However, it did not elaborate on when it would be constituted.

In the case of IPFT, a modality committee was formed to settle the demand for Tipraland by elevating the status of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC), but ultimately, nothing happened. Consequently, IPFT almost vanished from the state's political landscape.

“The IPFT allied with the BJP before the 2018 assembly elections and they were offered two ministerial berths and gradually they were finished off politically. I fear the same fate may befall in the case of TIPRA Motha too. The BJP is trying to take advantage of the innocence of Pradyot Kishore Debbarman,” Sudip attributed.

Meanwhile, hailing the agreement as ‘historic’ Pradyot said, “The tripartite accord was the beginning of the constitutional solution for the indigenous people of Tripura, but it was not the achievement – just a foundation to secure land rights, empowerment of ADC, direct funding, and development of health, education, language, and culture of the indigenous people as enshrined in the constitution of India.”