Kalyanpur (Tripura), 10 Feb: A sea of men and women colourfully decked in the red and yellow colours of the two-year-old Tipra Motha party burst into cheers of \u2018Bubagra (Raja)\u2019 as Pradyut Kishore Manikya Debbarma came forth onto a raised platform in a black kurta.
\nThe scion of the former royal family of Tripura, who enjoys wild popularity amongst his Tiprasa people, raised his arms akimbo and then folded them in acknowledgement of the cheering by his fans.
\nMoments before getting up on stage amidst dancing and clapping by his followers, Debbarma told PTI on Saturday that post-elections, \u201cWe will not be part of any government which does not agree to our demand (of Tiprasa, a separate state).
\nHowever, he also held out an olive branch.
\n\u201cIf there is a hung assembly, we will see (about supporting a government from outside) \u2026 but we will stick to our main objective,\u201d said the politician, whom many still address as Maharaja.
\nHis family had reigned the tiny principality for many centuries, before merging it with India in 1947.
\nHis parents – Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya Deb Barman Bahadur and Bibhu Devi – had both been Congress MPs. But much water has flown down the Khowai river since then.
\nTwo successive bouts of militancy had burst onto the peaceful state\u2019s horizon – first in the late 1980s and then, after an accord with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi bought peace for nearly a decade, again from 1996-2004.
\nThe demand for a separate state for tribals has once again gained momentum with the \u2018Prince\u2019 endorsing it and old rebels and campaigners for Tiprasa, such as former Tripura National Volunteers chief Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwal, active as a militant in the 1980s and Ranjit Debbarma, who used to head the All Tripura Tiger Force which wreaked havoc in the area in the 1990s, flocking to it.
\nPradyut Debbarma, however, has made it clear that though he is seeking a tribal state, he was in favour of communal amity and welcomed Bengali plains dwellers, Manipuris and Muslims to be part of the new state, whose boundaries have been left undefined.
\nIn his Saturday rally, he stressed that once again.
\n\u201cThey (BJP) want Tiprasa and Bengalis to fight, they do not want to talk of development, of progress. We want all to develop,\u201d he said as his followers cheered.
\nThe underlining of communal harmony was perhaps mindful of the fact that the Tiger Force had on December 12, 1996, slaughtered 27 plains dwellers in one of the most gruesome terror attacks in this part of India which has seen many militant groups come and go.
\n\u201cMy wife\u2019s parents and younger brother were shot dead, riddled with AK-47 bullets after their house was set on fire,\u201d said Subrata Dey, 58, a local resident who shuttles between the capital Agartala, 60 kms from here, and this sleepy little hamlet.
\nAbout 31 per cent of the population of the state are tribals – who include Tripuris, Reangs, Jamatias, Chakmas, Mogs, Kuki, Bru, Halam, Bhutia, Khasias and Garo. Tripuris are the largest and dominant tribe and the erstwhile princely family owes allegiance to this tribe.
\nHowever, the majority of people in Tripura are Hindu Bengalis, some of whom lived here for centuries but many of whom came from Comilla in Bangladesh, where the Maharaja of Tripura also owned vast estates, as well as from Sylhet and Chittagong there as refugees in 1947, escaping murderous rioting.
\nRelations between the two – tribals and settlers – was peaceful till the 1980s when continued neglect of tribal areas and worsening of relations between the two communities over minor issues saw clashes and eventual tribal militancy.
\nIn Saturday\u2019s rally, Debbarma however besides taking care to appease all communities attacked BJP.
\n\u201cToday the Prime Minister will come to Ambassa ( a tribal area in Dhalai district) and say Tripura has developed under BJP rule. Has it ?\u201d he asked rhetorically before giving his own answer-\u201cNo, development has not reached you, my poor people.\u201d However, at the same time, the 44-year-old politician, backpedalled a bit and said \u201cIt\u2019s not his (Narendra Modi\u2019s) fault. He has not been given correct information.\u201d The attack continued. \u201cModi ji, \u2026 Aapke paas 56 inch ka seena hai. Hamare paas Tiprasa ka pyar hain (you have a 56 inch chest, I have the love of Tiprasa people), he thundered using a line reminiscent of the famous dialogue uttered by Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s Bollywood blockbuster \u2018Deewar\u2019.
\nThough Tipra Motha has distanced itself from the CPI(M)-Congress alliance and refused any seat adjustment deal with it and in the past blamed the two parties for the ills plaguing the tribal community, this election battle seems to focus more on the BJP, possibly because it rules in Agartala.
\nDebbarma also chose not to spare Assam\u2019s chief minister while describing him as a \u201cfriend\u201d.
\n\u201cHimanta Sarma has been saying he will not agree to division of Tripura… (But) You are dividing the nation on Hindu-Muslim, Christian, Buddhist lines.\u201d As dusk fell early in the Barmura hills of Kalyanpur, Debbarma lowered his pitch and turned emotional, stating \u201cHum one last fight (electoral) tho karke rahega (I shall fight one last election )\u201d before signing off for the day.
\nThis seemed to strike a chord with his audience who waved and cheered madly and tried to fall at his feet as his guards rushed him to an SUV which will drive him off to a helipad from where he will lift off to the former capital of his ancestors in search of a \u2018last hurrah\u2019 for Manikya dynasty. (PTI)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kalyanpur (Tripura), 10 Feb: A sea of men and women colourfully decked in the red and yellow colours of the two-year-old Tipra Motha party burst into cheers of \u2018Bubagra (Raja)\u2019 as Pradyut Kishore Manikya Debbarma came forth onto a raised platform in a black kurta. The scion of the former royal family of Tripura, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-210717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-north-east"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}