Little known to many Indians and the rest of the world is the fact that the Northeast states of India became part of India, not in 1947, but later, after the then peoples representatives signed an accord with the then Government of India.  One such state was Tripura which joined India on 15 October 1949. The journey of the original inhabitants of these lands -the indigenous peoples -Twiprasa -speaking the language Kok Borok, like that of other ethnic peoples and minorities, has been a tale of deception, treachery, loot, marginalisation and dishonour of all commitments in the merger agreements.

MODERN-DAY TRIPURA IS NOT WHAT IT WAS UNDER THE REIGN OF MAHARAJA BIR BIKRAM KISHORE MANIKYA BAHADUR -the former King of Tripura before the state merged with the Indian Union in 1949. Tripura today has more people from Bangladesh than their own tribal people. Unlike the rest of the country, Tripura social and political bodies want to work on NRC and CAA.

Tripura today is led by its first Bharatiya Janata Party flamboyant chief minister  -Biplab Kumar Deb, who has perfected the art of shooting from the hip -whether he is talking about Punjabis, Haryanvis,  the rights of the indigenous people of Tripura -the Twiprasa nation or even the rights of media personnel whom he recently abused.

One will find it difficult to believe that even the Chief Minister of the state is said to be of Bangladeshi origin. He speaks Bengali and has a disdain for those who speak the Kok Borok language.

In the recent past, the elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council have been withheld due to the Covid19 pandemic and the government has nominated a non-indigenous bureaucrat, former Chief Secretary of the state -G. K. Rao, to run the affairs as administrator.

Since the last 70 years, Tripura has been colonised in a systematic manner. The leading Left and left-oriented parties of the country, siding with all mechanisms of the state to demographically uproot the local people, over the years, not only tolerated wholesale infiltration from neighbouring Bangladesh but encouraged it too.

The demographics of the state of Tripura have been so perniciously managed that the Bengali domination is complete. The borders are so porous, that if you know how to do a 3-feet long and high jump, you can crisscross the two countries in a jiffy. If you are more ingenuine, you can bribe your way through on both sides.

Twiprasa-the indigenous peoples who were 93 per cent of the population way back in 1951 were down to 23 per cent in 2007 as per the data given by Brigadier Amrit Kapur in the Indian Defence Review. As of 2020, it is down to less than five per cent. It may also be understood that the influx is of Hindus and Muslims and not of Muslims alone.

When I visited Tripura, nearly a year ago to participate in protests for the rights of the indigenous peoples, I saw the dominance of Bollywood music, Bengali bill-boards, Bengali language and the fear in the minds of the indigenous peoples to stand-up to the state-sponsored and ruthlessly administered Bengali domination.

Yesterday, observing the 71st day of inclusion in India,  all across the state there were demonstrations by the Tripura Peoples’ Front, protesting the policies of the Union and the state government against the tribal people of the state.

Thanks to the courageous stand and efforts of the Tripura Peoples Front led by iron-lady Patal Kanya Jamatia, there is an uprising against the demographic, cultural and political change thrust on the tribal peoples. She is spearheading a non-electoral, legal and peoples struggle over the past 6 years against the social, political, economic and cultural domination over the past seven decades.

The scion of the erstwhile King of Tripura -Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarman has recently forged unity amongst various tribal groups through a serious endeavour to “work on NRC, CAA, identification and elimination of illegal voters from the voters’ list, streamlining of forest rights laws, more powers and funding for the Autonomous District Council.”

The tortuous journey of 71 years must come to an end and the human rights, social and political rights of the tribal peoples of Tripura must be honoured.