Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Agartala, Oct 23 (IANS) Normal life was affected in Tripura on Thursday after civil society affiliated with ruling BJP’s ally Tipra Motha Party (TMP) called for a 24-hour strike in support of their eight-point demands, including deportation of illegal immigrants.
A senior police officer said that to make the bandh a success, the protesters organized demonstrations at more than 52 prominent places across the state and at two places along the railway tracks in West Tripura and Khowai districts.
“There is no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the state. The situation is under the control of the police and administration,” the official said. He said that large contingents of security forces, including Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), have been deployed across the state.
Although attendance of employees and officials remained almost normal in most government offices and banks across Tripura, private offices, shops, markets and business establishments remained closed at many places. Public vehicular movement came to a standstill on most highways, including Tripura’s lifeline National Highway 8, as bandh supporters blocked roads at several places.
Tiprasa Civil Society (TCS), led by TMP MLA Ranjit Debbarma, called for a 24-hour strike on Thursday to highlight their eight-point demands.
The demands include immediate implementation of the Tiprasa Agreement, identification and deportation of all illegal immigrants, setting up detention camps in each district for illegal immigrants, holding elections for village committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) and introduction of the Inner Line Permit system to prevent infiltration.
Debbarma, who is also a senior TMP leader, said several BJP-ruled states, including Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi, have taken steps against illegal immigrants, but the Tripura government is yet to take action despite directions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
“The BJP government conducts elections in all urban and rural bodies, but is not conducting elections for village committees under TTAADC,” the tribal leader told the media.
The Tripura government had earlier issued a notification announcing that all its offices would remain open on Thursday. “It has come to the notice of the government that some organizations have called for a statewide strike on October 23. Keeping this in view, government offices and public sector undertakings will remain open on October 23. Government workforce will work as usual,” the notification said.
Chief Minister Manik Saha protesting against the bandh said on Wednesday that development cannot be stopped by striking in the state. Without naming anyone or any party, he said that even though an NGO has called the bandh, people know who is behind it.
“Many NGOs have also opposed the strike,” he said. “The purpose of the bandh call is to attract media attention and send a message across the country that something is happening in Tripura, but development cannot be stopped like this,” Saha told the media.
CPI(M) Tripura state secretary and leader of opposition Jitendra Chaudhary also opposed the strike, saying the demands for which the strike was called had nothing to do with the common people.
After year-long deliberations and the signing of a tripartite agreement with the Center and the Tripura government on March 2 last year, the then opposition and tribal-based TMP, which has 13 MLAs, joined the BJP-led coalition government in the state on March 7, 2024, adding a new dimension to Tripura’s political landscape. Two TMP MLAs, Animesh Debbarma and Brishketu Debbarma, were inducted into the ministry led by Chief Minister Manik Saha.
TMP, led by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, had also organized a demonstration in Delhi on September 9 to press for its demands.
The party is also demanding a separate state for tribals called “Greater Tipraland” under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution and early conduct of long-pending village committee elections within the TTAADC areas. Since 2021, the TMP has been ruling the 30-member politically crucial TTAADC, which covers two-thirds of Tripura’s 10,491 sq km area and is home to over 12.16 lakh people, about 84 per cent of whom are tribals.
–IANS
SC/DPB