Agartala, Sept. 30: Massive protests and threat of legal action have forced the leaders of the tribal social organisation, Borok Dopha, to back out of its stand against the erstwhile princely Tripura’s merger with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949.
“We did not consider the implications of our stand. Now we wish to clarify that we have no intention of challenging the sanctity of the merger; nor have we ever said the merger should be undone after 58 years,” said Rajendrajit Debbarma, the president of the organisation.
The leaders of the organisation said they were only concerned with social aspects of the tribal problem. They were against the indulgence of tribal youths in “so-called modern western styles”.
The secretary of the Hoda (the supreme community council) of the Jamatya tribesman, Rampada Jamatya, said the traditional tribal culture was threatened by the invasion of modernity and they only want to preserve and protect the tribal culture. “By describing October 15, 1949, as an ‘accursed day’ we meant to say the date marked the beginning of assault on our culture. There was no political motivation in it.”
The leaders of Borok Dopha rationalised their stand and reiterated their allegiance to the Constitution and territorial integrity. “The complication has been created by one sentence in our statement but it should not be looked at in isolation,” Jamatya said.
The superintendent of police (West), G.S. Roa, said the dispute appeared to be receding after the explanation by the leaders of Borok Dopha. However, the CID has sent a report on the issue and the situation would be monitored.
The Tripura Tribal Land Restoration Committee, an outfit working for the restoration of tribal lands, has demanded early action on the part of the state government to ensure restoration of land since 1949. The issue may snowball into a major agitation with only five months left before the Assembly elections.
The chairman of the committee, Narendra Debbarma, said they would launch a statewide agitation if their demands were not met.
Sources in the CPM, however, refused to comment on the issue saying “the restoration is a continuing process and the government is doing its job”. They also indicated that the party would come out with a definite stand on the demands made by the committee soon.
The pamphlet said Tripura’s last king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya had set aside 3,000 square km of land exclusively for the tribals in two instalments in 1931 and 1943, but the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act of 1960 had disbanded the reserve land.
The pamphlet also stated that the second amendment of the Act had legitimised the illegal transfer of land up to Janaury 1, 1969. It added that the Indian Forest Act 1927 and the Central Forest Act 1980 have also dealt serious blows to tribal rights to land.
The committee has demanded tribal right on forestlands, disbanding of joint forest management committees and restoration of alienated tribal land on priority basis.
The chairman of the committee, Narendra Debbarma, said they would launch a statewide agitation if their demands were not met.
Sources in the CPM, however, refused to comment on the issue saying “the restoration work is a continuing process and the government is doing its job, now let us see how things shape up.” They also indicated that the party would come out with a definite stand on the demands made by the committee soon.
