Agartala, Mar 6 (Representative) Tripura Congress MLA and former BJP minister Sudip Roy Barman on Wednesday accused the BJP-led government in the center and state of cheating indigenous people of the state by taking advantage of the simplicity of TIPRA Motha’s founder and Tripura royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma in the naming and signing tripartite agreement last week. However, Chief Minister Manik Saha denied the assertion of Roy Barman about TIPRA Motha and said that the government of India has been consistently working towards making the Northeast a conflict-free region over the past decade. The tripartite agreement was a foundation for addressing the issues of the indigenous people of Tripura, and before signing the accord, there were several rounds of talk among the stakeholders. “The agreement was signed after TIPRA Motha leaders were convinced of the proposals,” CM said. Roy Barman said on his demand, Chief Minister 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, the Speaker not even allowed clarification on the 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.” Terming ‘tripartite agreement’ as ‘zero achievements’, Roy Barman feared that the document could be a ploy to finish off TIPR Motha politically, as was the case with IPFT after the BJP came to power in 2018. Pradyot Debbarma, a simple man with high dignity, might have believed the promises of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and signed the agreement, but his previous experience with IPFT was different.
What transpired from the statement of the Chief Minister is that the central government would form a joint committee or group with all stakeholders to look into the demands of to implement the issues of the indigenous people of Tripura relating to history, land rights, political rights, economic development, identity, culture, and language, but didn’t elaborate when it would be constituted.In the case of IPFT, a modality committee was formed to settle the demand of Tipraland by elevating the status of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC), but ultimately nothing happened yet. In the process, IPFT almost vanished from the political landscape of the state, as he underlined. “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.