BJP ally IPFT moves Tripura Guv over demand for 'Tipraland'

Guwahati: The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally of the ruling BJP in Tripura, has moved Governor N I Reddy urging him to impress upon the Centre the need to fulfill its demand for a separate Tipraland state for indigenous people.

The memorandum submitted to the Governor on Monday said a separate state is necessary as the indigenous people of the Tripura have been reduced to a minority due to large-scale migration of refugees and "illegal migrants" from neighbouring Bangladesh (erstwhile Pakistan) since the Princely state of Tripura was annexed in 1949.

The development is significant given the fact that BJP is against the bifurcation of Tripura and have rejected the demand for creation of a separate state. In its manifesto for the Assembly elections held in February this year, BJP promised greater autonomy with more legislative, administrative and financial power to the council but rejected the demand for geographical division of Tripura.

The IPFT said the separate state should be created under the Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution, comprising areas under Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC). The TTADC, a council set up under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for welfare of the tribals, administers an area of about 7,132 sq km, which is about two-third of the state.

The IPFT memorandum said population explosion and large-scale migration of refugees and "illegal migrants" led to alienation of the tribals and displacement from their soil. "The indigenous people have remained socially and politically backward and are facing an identity crisis in their home land. They have been facing atrocities and are deprived of basic amenities. The TTADC areas have remained neglected and deprived of facilities like roads, drinking water, electricity, sanitation and healthcare. Un-equality in every sphere of development between TTADC and non-ADC areas is distinctive," it said.

The party said the demand for a Roman script to the Kokborok language (spoken by the tribals) too have remained neglected for long. The IPFT have been agitating for Tipraland state for the past several years.

The politics over Tipraland:

The IPFT, which came into being with the demand for Tipraland state, entered into a pre-poll alliance with BJP in 2018 and won eight out of nine Assembly seats it contested. BJP came to power in Tripura for the first time despite opposing the demand for a separate state.

The demand for a separate Tipraland state figured prominently in the 2023 Assembly elections with Tipra Motha, another regional party led by Tripura's royal scion Pradyot Deb Barma, which made the demand its biggest poll plank.

Tipra Motha bagged 13 seats in its maiden Assembly elections while IPFT managed to win only one. Tipra Motha is also in power in TTADC since March last year and the party is engaged in talks with the Centre on its demand for 'Greater Tipraland'. The IPFT too joined the talks.

BJP and IPFT formed their government for the second straight term in March and the saffron party said the IPFT never raised the demand for a separate state since it joined hands in 2018.

Tipra Motha says a separate state is required as the indigenous people were losing political power due to the spurt in population of non-indigenous people in Tripura.