NIPP deliberates on indigenous Tripuris
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 16 2016: The second North East Indigenous Peoples Parliament (NIPP) was held in Tripura and the session deliberated on the miserable condition of indigenous Tripuris.

The three-day second parliament jointly organised by the Coalition for Indigenes' Rights Campaign (CIRCA) Manipur, Tripura Peoples Front and Tripura Students' Federation at Khumulung, Agartala since February 12 endorsed the resolutions adopted at the first NIPP 2015 held at Imphal.

Talking about the Tripura session at Manipur Press Club here today, NIPP working committee coordinator Ningthouja Lancha said that many issues and problems specific to Tripuris were deliberated at length.

The present condition of indigenous Tripuris is rather poignant.

Leaving aside struggling for protection of their identity, Tripuris are not in a position to speak even before media.

All Borok (native Tripuri) speakers who attended the parliament also known as NIPP Tripura Chapter became emotional and lamented their own fate.

The convention strongly condemned the statement made by VHP International president Pravin Togadia at a religious seminar held at Agartala on January 28 .

Pravin Togadia reportedly stated, "All the Bangladeshi Hindu immigrants should be provided Indian citizenships.

But if any Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants claim for the country's citizenship, they should first undergo genetic test to prove they had Indian ancestors".

The same statement exposed the racist policy of mainland Indians and their attitude of treating the indigenes of the North East as inferior race, decried the NIPP Tripura Chapter.

It maintained that the matter of identification and deportation of refugees and illegal immigrants should not be based on religion or language.

It also condemned Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's statement, "Most Indians and the Government do not want any kind of modification or scrapping of Indira-Mujib Accord" .

The accord signed between late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her counterpart Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a 25-year treaty and it expired in 1997 .

Whenever Borok people demanded deportation of 8 to 10 million Bangladeshi refugees who poured into Tripura during the Indo-Bangladesh War of 1971, Manik Sarkar has been referring to the expired accord without any rationale, Lancha said.

The Tripura Chapter urged the Government of India to stop any policy of population transfer in the name of bilateral relations with other countries or National integration.

Native Tripuris are now using Bengali as their official language.

Out of the 60 Assembly seats, 40 are reserved for Bengalis although the population of Bengalis is greater than the indigenous Tripuris.

The decadal population growth rate of Bengalis in Tripura between 1951 and 1991 is 327 per cent.

This was largely a result of incessant influx of Hindu Bengalis from Bangladesh and West Bengal.

As a result, Bangalis are completely dominating indigenous Tripuris in all respects, Lancha said.

He added that NIPP conventions would be held in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and other States too.

Comment