Tuesday, August 23, 2016

The strange Tryst with Destiny in Tripura.

In the mid-20th century, when the Communist movement started in Tripura under Nirpen Chakraborty and Dasarath Deb, they were seen as the liberators of the hill people, the tribal. Dasarath Deb was called the uncrowned king of the Borok people. The Congress, on the other hand, can be seen as a patron of Bengali migration from East Pakistan/Bangladesh.

In 1978, after a forever rule of Congress (Nehru's Congress), the Lefts came to power by popular vote. Nripen Chakraborty, who was born in Bikrampur, Dhaka district but spoke fluent Kokborok became the CM.

Meanwhile, the romantic idealist in Bijoy Hrangkhawl saw Tripura as a similar case as Mizoram, which was certainly not. And we all know what happened in 1980. The TNV fueled bloody riots killed thousands, Mandai being a shivering example for generations to come. People died on both sides of the line, Ananda Marg backed Amra Bangali (a political party that still exists) committed one of the most atrocious crimes during the riots.

In 1982, the Left administration implemented TTAADC under the (present) 6th schedule. It was one of the agendas on which it won the election. The communists had massive tribal support. But, things seemed out of order throughout the 1978-1988 Left rule. The TNV almost ran a parallel government. The Moffusil is still under-developed because of those days. Ironically, the TNV surrenders in 1988. The demand for separation almost vanished and BKH joined mainstream politics to form the famous 'Jut' (coalition) with Congress (not Nehru's Congress anymore).

With time, the 'Jut amol' (coalition era) becomes a synonym of atrocity and misrule. And, in the hills, two more insurgent groups came up, the NLFT and ATTF. If one is to believe the rumors, then NLFT formed out of the rebels who didn't follow BKH and continued their struggle for independence, it had a Congress backing. While the ATTF was a military outfit 'created' to counter NLFT. ATTF members were former CPM workers or leaders.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Tripura saw the worst form of gang wars vis-a-vis 'struggle for independence'. By late 1990s, CPM was the majority party throughout the state and was in a position to track down the militants. The TSR was empowered, massive combing operations started, the Indo-Bangla border was sealed. The militants, who by now forgot their original freedom struggle, and being cut off from supplies took to cheap businesses like pornography.

By 2010, insurgency-related incidents in Tripura were almost negligible, the state returned to peace. Now, in these times of peace, we can at least say that the ADC area has one-degree college and several schools.

Development takes time, and above all Peacetime.

I have no political stand on this matter, Twipraland maybe a good idea, maybe not.. but violence is never a good idea. It has never been. Violence gets you attention, but I have a doubt if it gives you any positive result.