Agartala, July 12 (IANS): A Tripura tribal party, which has blockaded the national highway and the lone railway track in the state to push its demand for a separate state, has sought tri-partite talks with the central and state governments over its demand. “We have sought the Governor’s intervention and a tri-partite meeting between us, the Centre and state governments to resolve the matter,” Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) President Narendra Chandra Debbarma said.
Debbarma told the media: “In Delhi, the National Federation for New States took up the issue with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Home Ministry. We also submitted a memorandum to the Tripura Governor (Tathagata Roy) demanding his intervention.”The senior IPFT leaders on Wednesday held a review meeting but they refused to divulge its outcome.
Roy, who was in the national capital to attend a dinner of outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee, told IANS over phone: “I cannot do anything now as I am in Delhi. After returning to Agartala I would look into the issue.” The IPFT, which for years has been agitating for the creation of a separate state, carved out by upgrading the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) area, organised blockade on the NH-8, the life line of the state, and the lone railway line to the state at Khamting Bari since Monday morning.
The politically important Council constitutes two-thirds of Tripura’s 10,491 sq km area, which has 12,16,465 (mostly tribals) of the state’s 37 lakh population residing in it. The Left Front government led by Manik Sarkar, which is strongly opposed to both the demand and the stir, has taken unprecedented security measures in and around the Baramura hill ranges, through which the NH-8 and the railway line passes. Some women agitators were taken ill and were treated by government doctors. Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Chief Public Relations Officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said that in view of the blockade, all trains including those bound for New Delhi and Kolkata, were cancelled in Tripura. Debbarma said: “In support of our demand, we would continue the blockade for an indefinite period until the central government gives a positive assurance towards our demand.”
A rally would also be organised in Agartala on the same issue on August 23, the IPFT chief said. He said: “We had a meeting with Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on May 17 in New Delhi where we discussed our demands.” “The Minister told us that the government would consider our demands. If Tripura police want to arrest us they can do that,” Debbarma said.
Singh is also Minister of State for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER). Most of the political parties, including the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have rejected IPFT’s demands. Blaming the BJP for the blockade, CPI-M’s West District Secretary Pabitra Kar, said the saffron party did a similar thing in Manipur before the state assembly elections there. The BJP, however, denied the allegations. Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Bhanulal Saha while talking to the media said: “The state government once again urged the IPFT to call off the blockade considering the sufferings of the people and possible crisis of essentials, food grains and fuels.”
