Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on Friday exhorted the party-headed Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) to constitute a monitoring committee to thwart possible eviction-induced influx from Assam.
Debbarma posted on X: “I have requested the TTAADC to constitute a monitoring committee... to detect illegal immigrants who are illegally entering the TTAADC areas at the earliest. We should take this matter (seriously) as many illegal people from Assam are being evicted and may enter neighbouring states. This committee should work not as political entities but as the protector of our rights.”
The Tipra Motha development comes amid the ongoing crackdown launched by the Assam government against encroachers in several districts. Tipra Motha is part of the ruling coalition government in Tripura headed by the BJP and also helms the TTAADC since 2021.
Like the Motha leader, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur governments have also sounded an alert against possible influx from Assam since Wednesday.
On Thursday, a Motha delegation headed by Debbarma pushed for a special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in Tripura to safeguard the rights of the state’s tribal populace during an interaction with BJP president J.P. Nadda in New Delhi.
A Motha delegation on Wednesday also met the Election Commission brass top push for the SIR of the state’s electoral rolls. “...Illegal migration is affecting our state and the Northeast and today if we don’t identify illegal voters there will be no tomorrow for our next generation. The good news is that the ECI has assured the delegation that SIR will be conducted across the country including Tripura,” Debbarma wrote on X after the meeting.
Sarma warning
After a visit to Uriamghat on Friday afternoon, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X: “In Uriamghat, I personally reviewed the extent of encroachment of forest land and how the forest has been destroyed and converted into commercial plantations. THESE SETTLEMENTS WILL NOW BE HISTORY.”
Sarma inspected the areas that have been encroached in Uriamghat and for which the state government has already issued eviction notices. He revealed two individuals suspected of being key figures behind the encroachments have already been arrested.
Sarma told the media in Uriamghat on Friday evening that thousands of bighas of land in the area had been unlawfully occupied with certain families having encroached as much as 300 to 400 bighas, using the land for various economic activities.
He affirmed that appropriate action would follow, urging the public to cooperate with the measures the state government intends to implement.