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Updated July 23rd, 2021 at 20:42 IST

BJP-ally in Tripura seeks separate Tiparaland state; submits memo on meeting Home Minister

The IPFT memorandum states that it strongly calls for the creation of a full-fledged Tipraland state based on the 6th annex zones, i.e. the TTAADC of Tripura.

Tripura
PTI | Image:self
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Pressing on with their demand for the creation of a separate 'Tiparaland', a four-member delegation of the ruling BJP’s ally, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), on Thursday met with Home Minister, Amit Shah in New Delhi. 

IPFT seeks a full-fledged state called Tipraland

The delegation headed by Minister of Forests Mevar Kumar Jamatia, who is also the general secretary of IPFT, met the Home Minister while submitting their five-point memorandum in support of the creation of a separate state from the existing Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), that constitutes two-thirds of the state's area.

Move comes after election loss

IPFT’s move comes after the BJP-IPFT alliance lost the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections in April this year to the Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance of Tipraha (TIPRA) led by former royal Pradyot Kishore Deb Barman.

Son of the last Maharaja of Tripura, Deb Barman, on the other hand, has demanded a greater Tipraland which seeks to include tribals not only living within the tribal autonomous district but those living outside, including in other states.

Demands pushed by the IPFT

According to the memorandum submitted by the leaders, besides seeking a full-fledged state called Tipraland, it sought the formation of a high-level modality committee for the development of tribals, who form one-third of the states population, special recruitment drive for indigenous people, amendment of Sixth Schedule to empower the TTAADC and inclusion of Kokborok, the tribal language in the eighth schedule of the constitution.

The IPFT memorandum states that it strongly calls for the creation of a full-fledged Tipraland state based on the 6th annex zones, i.e. the TTAADC of Tripura with the motive to protect the identity crisis of the indigenous peoples of Tripura.

The IPFT delegates held discussions on the High-Power Modality Committee formed by the central government for the socio-economic, cultural, and linguistic development of the indigenous people. They also asked the Home Minister to expedite the submission of the committee's report.

Elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) were held on 6 April 2021. 25 of the 28 elected seats in the Autonomous District Council are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. There were 865,041 eligible voters in the elections. The votes were counted on 10 April 2021 with a victory for the TIPRA-INPT (Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra) alliance. The TIPRA party-led alliance won 18 seats in the election while the BJP- IPFT alliance could win only 9 seats.

(Inputs from PTI)

(Picture by PTI)
 

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Published July 23rd, 2021 at 20:42 IST

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