| |
|
The
Agony of Tripura
A
tale of it's history, it's constitution, the deceit against the
people of Tripura, by the politicians, and their suppression
and torture in their homeland by the tribals terrorists leading to their
current pathetic condition.
-Mr. J.D. Mandal
Tripura is a beautiful state in the north-eastern part of India. It has
pleasant spots of historical interest as well as uncommon glamour which
is unknown to rest of the world.
Just like the shade under a
lamp, Tripura is suffering badly from some socio-economic agonies caused
by the vested interested political dragons. Now the position has come
to an extreme point, which should be solved with immediate effect.
Before going deep into the
subject, it will be better to see the historical background of the state
and notice its potentials. Geographical aspects of the land would help
us determine how far the political propaganda is responsible for the distress
of the golden soil of Tripura and its people.
Geographical aspects of the
state
The area of Tripura is
10,491.69 sq. km., the population (as per 2001 census) is 31,91,168. Density
of population per sq. km is 304.
The geographical location
of the land is between 220 56/ and 240
32/ degrees north latitude and 900 09/ and
92010/ degrees east longitude. About 84% of the
perimeter of the state ( i.e. 839 km) has an international border with
BANGLADESH. In the rest 16% of the boundary (53 km with Karimganj
district of Assam and 109 km with Mizoram) Tripura gets the affection
of India.
There are five parallel
hill-ranges namely Baramura-Devatamura, Atharamura, Longtarai, Sakhantang
and Jampui. They are not too high. The highest peak in the state
in the Jampui hills is Betlinga Shiva (939m) . Rivers like
Gomoti, Manu, Khowai, Dhalai, Howrah, Juri, Deo, Muhuri, Feni, Vijay
are fertilizing their basins. Though Tripura enjoys the humid tropical
monsoon climate, yet it's moderate temperature reads as follows :
Summer : 220C
- 330C
Winter : 900C
- 260C
Average yearly rainfall
of the state is about 210 cm. Stony surface is rare in the state. Most
of the land of the state is made of soil. Loamy and sandy alluvial soil
cover the river valleys and plains. Tillas and hills are covered with
fertile laterite soils. Thus the state is green and productive.
60% land of the state is
under forests. Thatch, cane, bamboo and trees like- shaal, teak,
garjan, gamai, champa, karai, sirish are the remarkable natural vegetation
of the land. Tea, cushew, orange, sugarcane, rubber ( Tripura is
4th in rubber production in India), coffee, jute are notable
among the cash crops. True potato seed (TPS) of Tripura is famous
in the world. Paddy is the principle food of the state. Wheat is also
grown in winter. Various vegetables are grown in abundance in the state.
The natural lakes, semi-artificial lakes, dighis, ponds, rivers,
streams (locally called charahas) are the sources of irrigation
and they are alive with fishes. Cattle like cows, buffalos and goats help
the farming, supplying manure, milk and flash.
Tripura is rich in wild-life
too. Speckled monkey is a very rare animal which is found only in this
state. Besides this bison, monkey, elephant, deer, bear, tiger, jackal,
wild-dog, leogard are the fauna of the land. There are four wildlife sanctuaries
in Tripura, such as Sepahijala, Gomati, Trishna and Roua.
Land under utilization
Total geographical area
:—————————————10,49,169
hectors.
Net area under agriculture
( as per 2001-02 data) :——
2,80,000 Hectors.
Agri-area with irrigation
facility :——————————
59,586 Hectors.
Jhum ( shifting cultivation)
in forests :————————20,000
Hectors
(approx. Per year)
Families under Jhum
Cultivation :—————————
30,000 Nos.
Land distribution on relief
High hill area :
———————4,00,000
Hectors.
Low hill (Tilla) area :
————
2,30,000 Hectors
River valley or Longa area :
— 2,14,900 Hectors
Plain land area :
——————2,04,269
Hectares
Total area
: ————————10,49,169
Hectors
#Natural gas is the only
mineral wealth of the state. Now it yields electricity for industrial
and domestic uses.
#These are the brief accounts
of geographical aspects of Tripura. This reveals the potential of
the land, proper utilization of these resources will certainly make
Tripura, a happy and prosperous state. Yet the people of the state
are suffering from housing problems, lack of security in daily life,
unemployment and low purchasing capacity.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF TRIPURA
:
CHAKLA
- ROSANABAD : The present size of Tripura was not always like
this. From the last period of the Mughal rule till the time of
Indian independence (15th August, 1947) it was a vast land
of plains and hills. The eastern hilly part i.e. the present position
was called Hilly Tripura. The western plain part up to the Bank
of Meghna river, was called the Chakle-Roshanabad or
plain Tripura.
The last king of Tripura-
Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur, as luck would have it, suddenly
died a premature death at the age of 39 on the 17th May,1947.
His son Yuvaraj Kirit Bikram was at that time a minor boy. In this
period of vacuum in the royal palace, Chakle Roshnabad the part
and parcel of Tripura was snatched away by Pakistani Forces to be added
to East Pakistan (which is now Bangladesh). The subjects of Chakle-
Roshnabad were predominantly (97%) Bengalees and mostly Hindus. They
became victims of tortures and religious persecution .Such misfortune
also came down on the Buddhists (chakma, Magh etc) of hilly Chattogram
district. Being non-muslim, the district should have remained with India
than ceded to Pakistan.
Chakle-Roshanabad having
an area of 600 sq. miles, was the only source of money for hilly Tripura.
In those days hilly Tripura was full of forests and was not productive.
The revenue collected from Chakle-Roshanabad was the only source
of income for the royal family. During the reign of the last king Maharaja
Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur, the revenue income from Chakle-Roshnabad
was about 13 Lakhs. And this money helped the king modernize his capital
Agartala.
UNAKOTI AND PILAK
: Before 300 years
or before the North Tripura District was ruled by the agents of Mughal
emperor under the Syllet Governor called Kankoi or KARKON.
and did not belong to Tripura. Fatikrey, an old famous
market of the district was named after one of those karkans, Fatic
Roy. The stone carvings and figures of UNAKOTI hill of
Kailasahar evokes historical and tourist interest. Historian Dr.
Nihar Ranjan Roy, in his book of ‘Bangalir Itihas’ wrote
that Unakoti was the Shiva-Piligrimage of Pal Dynasty (770-810
AD).
Similarly, Pilak
lying at southern part of the state also has archeological value. There
are some stone images of Vishnu, Laxmi, Durga and other Deities. Historians
say that these stone image were sculpted in the 8th century.
TRIPURA LIES
IN THE PAW OF BENGAL : In 1874, 12 police station areas of
Sylhet were cut from Bengal and was joined to Assam as a new District
named Cachar. Now this Cachar is divided into
3 districts such as - Shilchar (Cahar), Hylakandi
and Karimganj. This means that besides the 109 kms boundary
with Mizoram, (present) Tripura has its 90% boundary perimeter with Bangladesh
and Karimganj i.e. bengalee inhabitant areas. So, Tripura is the eastern
remote area of greater Bengal. In old days, it was named as SRI
BHUMI.
RULE OF KING OF
MANIKYA DYNASTY IN TRIPURA : About
550 years ago, this hilly Tripura was ruled by the hindu bengalee king
of Bengal. After being driven by famine from Burma ( Mayanmar), some tribals
under the leadership of Mouchang-Fa entered into this SRI
BHUMI. A battle was fought against the intruders. Later the bengalee
king allowed the homeless refugee tribal people to reside in the southern
part of the land. There gradually developed a friendship between the bengalees
and the tribals. And later, the descendants of Mouchang-Fa
established the Manikya Dynasty in Tripura.
The discovery of a coin
of 1464 AD of the reign of king Ratnya Manikya proves that in the
second half of 15th century Ratna Manikya ruled Tripura.
He is the oldest historical king of Manikya Dynasty. The tales
of about 140 kings before Ratnya Manikya are imaginary and have
no historical value.
ROLE OF BENGALEE
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE : Being
a part of greater Bengal, the tales of the kings of Tripura which is named
as Rajmala - was written in Bangla. The official
language of the state was Bangla. Because since time immemorial,
Bangla was the medium of expression of the common people
of the kingdom and the same language was the only means of link between
the different dialect-speakers.
One of the signs of bengalee
culture is to build Kali Temples in bengalee inhabited areas. 500 years
ago, in 1501, king Dhanya Manikya built the temple of Tripureswari
at Matabari, Udaipur. It is said to be a part of 51 holy piths. Chandi
Mandap at Amarpur, Kali Mandir at Kashba are also very ancient.
There are at least one Kali Mandir at every remarkable inhabitant
of Tripura.
THE CAPITALS OF
TRIPURA : It was
said earlier that the leader Mauchang-Fa and his followers had
entered into Tripura from Burma (Mayanmar) and were allowed to reside
in the southern part of the state. There is a ruined sign of palace at
Rajnagar, Belonia, South Tripura. Perhaps it was their first
capital. Later on , the kings had chosen a suitable place at Rangamati
which is now known as Udaipur. To be saved from the attacks of
Arakans, Amar Manikya ( 1577-86) took his capital to Amarpur
which is 27 km east of Udaipur. Besides it, Udaipur (now the district
HQ of South Tripura) was the capital of Tripura since 1500 AD to 1760
AD. Thus the place has a very great historical value . it is famous for
Tripureswari Temple (1501), Jagannath Temple (1661), Shiva
Temple (1651), Krishna Temple (1668) etc. More over, the plot
taken from the reign of Govinda Manikya (1660-76) , Ravindra
Nath Tagore wrote his famous novel RAJARSHI and
play BISARJAN . These added some extra brightness to Bhubaneshwari
Temple.
In 1761, king Krishna
Manikya transfered his capital to old Agartala (Khayerpur).
Finally, king Radhakishore Manikya built a beautiful palace at
Agartala in 1901 in 1 sq km land with twin Dighis, gardens and
water flowers spending 10 lakh rupees. It is needless to say that the
money was realized from the subjects of Chakle-Roshanabad.
RABINDRANATH TAGORE
AND TRIPURA : The
royal family of Tripura had a very high regard for art, culture and literary
activity. King Birchandra Manikya (1862-96) was charmed by the
verse "Bhagna Hriday" composed by young Rabindra
Nath Tagore. Tripura gave the first royal facilitation to the
poet before the country and the world could know him. The last king of
Tripura, Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur (1923-47) offered "Bharat-Bhaskar"
title to Tagore in 1941.
At the request of Rabindra
Nath Tagore king Radhakishore Manikya (1896-1909) helped
Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose in building the Basu
Vijnaan Mandir. King Birebdra Kishore Manikya (1909-23)
gave a cheque of Rs. 5,000/- to Rabindra Nath Tagore to build an
hospital at Shantiniketan.
Several times, Rabindranath
came to Tripura. He gave the names of Ujjayanta Prasad, Malancha Nivas
and Nirmahal etc., several remarkable buildings.
TRIPURA JOINED
IN INDIA IN 1949 :
Through the Tripura was called an independent kingdom, really it was not
independent. During last part of Mughal Empire, the kings of Tripura (hill
Tripura) had to pay elephant tax i.e. supplying a good number of elephants
per year to the emperor of Delhi. On the other hand, the plain part of
Tripura i.e. Chakle-Roshanabad had gone under the control
of Nawab of Bengal during regin of king Dharma Manikya (1713-29).
The king became a Zamindar paying Rs. 50,000/- as revenue to the Nawab.
During the British rule everything of Tripura (plain & hill) was under
the control of the British. Thus the state was a part of India govt. On
17th May 1947, the last king of Tripura Bir Bikram Manikya
had passed away. Seeing the political situation of Indian sub-continent,
the king in his life time, decided that Tripura would join India. But
Pakistani forces snatched Chakle-Rosanabad the food plate
of Tripura at the time of partition. Hill Tripura had no means of income
to run the state. And thus the kingdom of hilly (i.e. present) Tripura
officially joined India on 15th October 1949.
SITUATION IN TRIPURA
ON OR BEFORE 15TH OCT,1949 :
There was only 107 km muddy road from Sunamura to Simna
via the capital Agartala. The king or the royal officers would go to sub-divisional
HQs through ASSAM BENGAL RAILWAY of british/ India, and
then either by boat in the river or on the back of elephants or "on
foot" to the destination. Except Amarpur and Udaipur,
all other sub-division towns viz-Dharmanagar, Kailasahar, Kamalpur,
Khowai, Agartala, Sonamura, Belonia and Sabroom were grown
up at the boundary of present Bangladesh keeping in mind the nearness
of the said railways. And the rest hilly tripura was covered with deep
forests. It may mentioned here that three people were killed by the attack
of wild elephant at Collegetilla, Agartala in 1952. This
shows how remote the hilly Tripura area
was.
THE PRESENT TRIPURA FROM 1949
AND ONWARDS
1949 TO
1951 : Under the inspiration of the communist party, some tribal
youths became armed and started killing-kidnapping the innocent bengalees.
This was done to unite tribal peoples on anti-bengali sentiment……and finally
to established a bengaleeless communist area. This is known in the history
of Tripura as BANGAL KHEDAO ANDULAN (Bengalee driving away
movement). This whimsical, unlawful and unreasonable movement came to
an end on 1951.The militants became gentlemen under the shelter of Tripura
Upajati Ganamukti Parishad.
1952 TO
1977 (25 years) : At the end of first five year plan (1952-57),
Tripura enjoyed the 198 km Assam-Agartala Road and 133 Km Agartala
Sabroom Road. The Sub-Division towns were linked with these two roads.
17 block offices were started. Mini new markets/ towns grew up. Agartala
Town bus service was started in 1963. NF Railway was extended to Dharmanagar
in 1964. Agartala water supply plant was commissioned in 1966. The state
hospital named after Govinda Bhallab Panth was established in 1961. All
India Radio, Agartala was started in 1967. Tripura Public Service Commission
(TPSC) was formed in 1972 and in the same year ONGC started
drilling for natural gas. Tripura Road Transport Corporation (TRTC)
formed in 1974 and in 1976 Tripura Board of Secondary Education
(TBSE) started its work. Thus a socio-economical synthesis accelerated
the progress of the state in education, culture and living standard resulted
in peace and prosperity.
POLITICAL UPGRADATION
: On 15th
Oct.1949, when Tripura merged with India. It was treated as a C category
state in the Indian Constitution till 1950. The 1st general
election was held in the state in 1952 and an electoral college of 30
members was formed. In 1956, the state was treated as an union territory.
Tripura Legislative Assembly was formed in 1963 and in 1972 Tripura became
a full-fledged state with 60 seats in the assembly. There was one district
and 10 sub-divisions in the state. Later three districts were formed.
1978 TO 2003 (25
years) : During the
internal emergency of 22 months (1975-77) the people of Tripura had a
very bad experience. A tremendous anti-congress sentiment swept the state
which aided the communists to power and with only 4 seats going to the
Tripura Upajati Yuba Samiti (TUJS) in the elections.
The Congress got none.
Here it should be mentioned
that to capture the Tribal vote, Congress party under the leadership of
the then chief Minister Sachindralal Sinha inspired the educated
tribal youth of Tripura to form a new political party titled TUJS
in 1967. Later the party remained as a counter to another tribal group
called Upajati Ganamukti Parisad which was guided by the
communists. In the 1978 election, TUJS also entered the Tripura Legislative
Assembly for the first time.
TUJS would not go
against the Tribal interest. CPI(M) utilized the scope. Left front leaders
and ministers started propaganda against the bengalees telling false stories
of exploiting the tribals. They did so to strengthen the tribal sentiment
on anti-bengali issue to materialize the communist plan of 1949-51. They
gave stress to land restoration act 187 and passed the Tripura Tribal
Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC popularly known
as ADC) Bill in 1979.
Having a congenial atmosphere,.
TUJS leader Mr. Bijoy Kr. Hrankhal went underground and
formed a militant group titled Tripura National Volunteers (TNV)
in 1978. TNV started killing innocent bengalees. On the 16th
Feb,1980, TNV leader B.K. Hrankhal met the then left front
chief minister Nripen Chakraborty in the Civil Secretariat,
Agartala. Following which in the 1st week of June (1980) TUJS
called a market strike. In this period, 6th to 9th
June there was a historical mass killing of bengalees by TNV and
TUGMP (Tripura Upajati Gana Mukti Parisada).
TTAADC was formed
in 1982 according to the 5th and 7th schedule of
Indian constitution. Tripura is a mixed area of Bengalees and Tribals.
There was no compact area of tribals in Tripura. Bengalees are the son
of the soil as Tripura lies in the paw of Bengal. There are 19 clans of
tribals in Tripura. Some came 500 years ago from Burma (Mayanmar),
some others came from nearest provinces for livelihood. Such as …. Lusai
from Mizoraam, Kashia from Meghalaya,
Lepcha from Sikkim, Bhutia from
Bhutan. Chakma, Mag etc. came from the hill
tracts of Chittagong and the Garos came from
the hill tract of Maimansingh. Santhal, Munda, Orang,
Bhil etc came from Madhya Pradesh, Chattishgarh,
Bihar, Orissa, to work in the tea gardens, brick fields and road
& bridge constructions. Their history is only 100 to 150 years old.
It is told earlier that
there no compact tribal area in Tripura. So the 6th schedule
of Indian Constitution is only applicable in Assam, not in Tripura. But,
the political leaders of left and even the right, thought of their tribal
vote bank only and did not think of the future of the bengalees in particular
and Tripura as a whole. They amended the Indian constitution and implemented
the 6th schedule in the ADC of Tripura in 1985. Unreasonably
out of vested political interest.
TTAADC (TRIPURA
TRIBAL AREA AUTONOMUS DISTRICT COUNCIL) IN BRIEF
|
Sl.No
|
Items
|
Tripura
|
ADC Area
|
Percentage
|
|
1.
|
Area
|
10,491.69 sq km
|
7,132.56 sq km
|
68.10%
|
|
2.
|
no of revenue villages
|
872
|
462
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Population (1991 census)
|
|
|
|
3.
|
i. Tribal
|
8,53,345
|
6,62,703
|
|
| |
ii. Non-Tribal
|
19,03,860
|
2,24,597
|
|
| |
iii. Total
|
27,57,205
|
8,87,300
|
|
|
4.
|
Block
|
40
|
17
|
|
|
5.
|
Gaon-panchayat
|
968
|
428(vill. Com.)
|
|
The afore-cited simple statistics shows how unreasonably the TTAADC
was formed. It's map shows that the ADC area is vast and at a stretch.
But the non-ADC area is like a small island in the ocean of ADC
area. These prove the step-motherly behavior of the left and right wing
political parties depriving the non-tribal people i.e. bengalees.
SOME OTHER POINTS OF VESTED
POLITICAL INTERESTS :
1. Chakma
refugees (53,155) of Chittagong Hill tracts were added
to the tribal population of Tripura in 1991 census. And it increased
the facilities of Tribals by 2%. The Chakma refugees
all returned to their homeland after a treaty with the Bangladesh
Govt. in Nov 2nd , 1997. But the said 2% more facilities
still exists.
2. The desi Tripura
Laskar Community had been struck off from the list of tribals
(ST) in Tripura by an order of the honorable Supreme court
in 1985. They constitute about 6% of the total population of Tripura.
Watch the Following Census
Reports :
Census 1981 : Sch.
Tribes of Tripura - 28.44 %
Census 1991 : Sch.
Tribes of Tripura - 30.95 %
Where does the Percentage
of Laskar Lie ? Who will answer ?
3. It is said that after
1971 Bangladesh war many bengalees have entered into Tripura. If so,
the percentage of Sch. Tribes of Tripura should decrease with a great
difference to consequent census reports. But the census report says
Census 1971 : Sch.
Tribes of Tripura - 28.90 %
Census 1981 : Sch.
Tribes of Tripura - 28.44 %
Both the Percentages
are almost the same . these does not prove the propaganda that
Bengalee intruders after 1971 from Bangladesh have rushed into Tripura
which decreased the percentage of the tribal people remarkably.
THE AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE AFORE-SAID
POLITICAL STEPS:-
- Terrorism
inspired :
Though after
1978, Tripura has seen the external developments as following:-
a) The N.F Railway line from Dharmanagar has been extended
to Manughat (66 km in total)
b) Gas Thermal Electricity production was started in Baramura
and Rukhia
c) Tripura University started it's work w.e.f 2nd November
1987
d) Local (Bengali & Kokborak) programme telecasting started
from Agartala Kendra of Doordarshan
e) Maharaja Bir Bikram Stadium at Collegetilla and Dasharath
Deb sports complex (stadium) at Badharghat were inaugurated
in 1995 and 2000 respectively.
Moreover outwardly many roads, buildings have been constructed, many
modern facilities are introduced.
Yet Tripura is not in peace now, law & order of the state is disturbed.
Security of public life has been lost because terrorism has been inspired
since last 25 years by the administration or political agents.
As for example :-
(i) In 12th August 1988, in New Delhi - Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi and TNV leader Bijoy Kumar Hrankhawal had
signed a pact of understanding. As a result of it, on the 10th September
1988, officially TNV surrendered it's weapons at Govindabari
, North Tripura . About 800 volunteers (terrorists) surrendered and
enjoyed the govt facility in various ways.
Ignoring the population ratio, 3 extra seats of Tripura assembly had
been declared as ST reserved. Thus the ST reserved assembly have gone
to 20 from 17 in number.
But the real extremists have remained underground under the title
of NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura)
(ii) In the same way on September, 1993, 739 ATTF terrorists
surrendered to the chief minister Dasharath Deb. This was also an
other pact of understanding.
30 TTAADC seats were constituted of which 21 reserved for ST,
7 unreserved and 2 nominated by the governor. By the said understanding
ST reserved seats were increased by 4. Thus, ST reserved seats became
25 and unreserved seats became 3 in number.
Both the two aforesaid pacts suppressed the political rights of the
non-tribals i.e of the bengalees who are the majority in the population.
Yet again some part of ATTF remained underground and continued
it's terrorists activity.
(iii) These farcical surrender dramas of the armed tribals (extremists)
were going on in a never-ending process, such as:-
On 20th January 1995, 159 TTVF ST terrorists surrendered
at Maithunglung in South Tripura. On the 18th February
43 SENGKRAK extremists surrendered at Daluma at Amarpur.
170 TTVF workers surrendered in the Gandachena sub-division.
102 armed tribal youths surrendered at Mandai block office
on 14th February 1996. Again 45 SENGKRAK volunteers
surrendered at Gandachena on the 12th April of that
year and on the 19th June 47 ATTF terrorists surrendered
at Kamalpur. On 31st March 1999 another 11 extremists
surrendered. On the 30th April of that year, 19 NLFT
workers surrendered, on 10th June 49 terrorists surrendered
to Assam Rifle Officers and 19 ATTF extremists surrendered
on 25th June. On 4th September 2000, 67 terrorists
surrendered to Assam Rifles. On 24th May 2001, 18 extremists
surrendered at the Kawamara camp of Assam Rifles
And alongside these meagre percentages of the terrorists surrendering
drama, thousands of tribals youths are killing, kidnapping, torturing
and collecting unlawful taxes from the common man, mostly the non-tribals.
These very extremists are being rewarded in this way for decades after
decades. Tribals are getting 100% govt awarded benefits in TTAADC
area (because the 6th schedule of Indian Constitution was
implemented in 1985) and 31% benefit in non-ADC area. Yet it is propagated
that tribals are exploited and they have gotten nothing. How ironical
it is!
- Surrendered
terrorists in the police Deptt and administration :
Some of the surrendered
terrorists/ extremists are employed in police/ security force and
others are posted in the administration.
As a result of which :-
The chief secretary of the state government of Tripura said that
there are 500 over ground helping hands of the banned terrorists groups
due which the security forces either get killed and loose their weapons
or are unsuccessful against the terrorists in their operations. The
over ground hands lying in the security forces, often flee away with
the govt arms or help their terrorist friends attack the security
camps, causing causality to the security forces, and providing a weapons
source for the terrorists.
- The public
life now in Tripura :
(a) The common
people of Tripura have to travel contending with the inconvenience
caused by security checking hassles in the main roads. Thus communications,
transports, trades and commerce are badly disturbed. Administrative
Area has been reduced to 20% of the state only, the rest 80% area
(i.e. the ADC Area and it's adjacent lands) is in the hands of the
left or right cadres, that is the armed Tribal youths (Terrorists/
Extremists ). They are running parallel governments. So, Education,
Health Service etc govt. welfare programme are beyond the reach of
the common people in those areas. People are suffering badly for want
of work, money and food. They can not even sell their homemade products
to buy other essential commodities. In this case, both tribals and
non-tribal bengalees are suffering.
(b) There are 19 clans of tribals in Tripura. A few clans of them
(4 to 5) can speak KOKBORAK, others do not. Reang
and Chakmas (The 2nd & 3rd highest groups among
tribals ) have their mother-tongue called BRU and CHAKMA
respectively. They and other (10 to 12) clans are suppressed
by KOKBORAK (It may be mentioned that Bangla
and Kokborak are two official language of Tripura).
(c) Most of the tribals are hindus. One of the extremists groups of
Tripura wants to preach christanity among the public at gun point.
Buddhist and hindus beliefs and culture are at stake. In the Sajek
Hill 159 Reang (hindu) volunteers were killed by their
christian fellow members on the issue of religion.
(d) There is a continuos fight between the two main Banned Terrorists
groups viz ATTF and NLFT for expanding the rule-area
of each group. Thus both tribals and particularly non-tribals bengalee
people are being killed.
- A False propaganda
in the International Level :
The over-ground
hands of the (Banned) Terrorist / Extremists of Tripura are very strong.
Each of the main two groups has a political party to propagate in
favour of them.
The root lies very deep. These armed Tribal youths are not at all
patriots. Their activities cannot be called insurgency. Because, they
kill innocent common bengalees and tribal people. They have blocked
the development of remote areas i.e. Education, Health Care and ruined
the local economy based on production, and selling. All these are
going on to serve the political interest of each group, not for peace
and prosperity of the common people of the urban and remote areas
of the state.
Former IPFT (Indigenous People's Front of Tripura )
leader and standing member of ADC Mr Sridam Debbarma
in an International conference organised by UNO in Durban
in South Africa in the month of August 2001, said that
the situation is very bad and depriving for the tribals of Tripura.
He requested the International Forum to look in to the matter. He
accused the hindu bengalees for the cause of the distress of the tribals.
In the same way, INPT President Mr Bijoy Kumar Hrankhawal
( An MLA of Legislative Assembly, Tripura ) also utilized the 20th
session of the 'Working Group of Indigenous Population' held
at Geneva on 22-26 July 2002.
He praised the banned terrorists groups as patriots, concocted stories
as against the real history of Tripura to convince the International
World against the bengalees to materialize the hidden political interest
of his party.
So, all the people of Tripura, India and the world as well should
realize what is really going on in Tripura, What is the fact and what
is the history and what is the present situation and who are responsible?
The well-wisher of humanity , and intellectual humanitarians should
go deep into the matter.
THE
CONCLUSION
Upto the above paragraph, the
geographical aspects along with the historical background of the state
Tripura …… and the present situation with problems are described in a
nut-shell.
Now it requires to set some
points for the way-out of the said problems :--
1) Tripura has a vast potential but it's inhabitants are poor due to improper
utilization of it's wealth.
2) There should be a scientific effort of organizing the block areas.
40 blocks in this small state is enough with 15 sub-divisions and 4 districts
.
3) Investments in the non-productive area i.e for the more pay & allowances
of govt employees should not drain the valuable state income.
4) Subsidized Economy also misuses the cash money and does not encourage
production. Productivity by utilizing all sorts of natural resources yields
much production . Much production controls the price of essential commodities,
on the other hand creates the scope of employment and increases the purchasing
capacities of the common people and gradually upgrades the standard of
living of the people.
5) The political propaganda
should be replaced by real history and bringing in the light the miscreants
behind all terrorist activity.
All the arms should be collected from the miscreants. Education, Health
Service, Transport, Trade & Commerce should be regularized. Barren
land under the unlawful activity of terrorist should be procured and utilized
as productive.
6) There should be stress on Tourism. Tripura is a very good prospect
in this regard. If there is terrorism, this will not flourish.
7) The vested interest political parties/ leaders have no proper programme
for the development of the land. So they rely on negative false issues/
sentiments for interests, they could not utilize the state income properly.
To avoid public agitation, they create new propaganda to avoid the unhealthy
situation.
The conscious people should know this and come forward to remove the "Agony
of Tripura"
|
|
|
