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Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, (centre) with others during release of a special poster cover to mark the 117th birth anniversary of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, in Agartala. Maharaja Bir Bikram is considered the architect of modern Tripura. (PTI Photo)
The Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), a ruling ally of the BJP, announced on Wednesday that it would observe Statehood Demand Day on August 23 over its demand for Tipraland, a separate state for tribals. The party’s tribal ally, the TIPRA Motha, will skip the event in Agartala, while leaders of the National Federation of New States are expected to attend it.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, IPFT general secretary Swapan Debbarma said: “Our partners from other parts of the country where they are raising demands for separate states would join us. But we are the only party in Tripura that is participating in the event.”
The IPFT leader said that National Federation of New States chief S G Sanya, who is at the forefront of the demand for Vidarbha statehood in Maharashtra, would attend the event. Debbarma further said IPFT supporters from across the state would turn up for the event to be held near the North Gate of Palace Compound. Officials from the local administration and police have visited the site, he added.
The IPFT has largely lost its footing in the past seven years, thanks to the rise of the TIPRA Motha. Formed only four years ago, Motha soon won the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) polls in 2021 and became the second-largest party in the Assembly in 2023. Motha joined the Government last year after signing an agreement with the state and central governments to find “amicable solutions” for problems faced by tribals.
IPFT’s Tipraland and TIPRA Motha’s Greater Tipraland
While the IPFT has been demanding Tipraland, a state comprising TTAADC areas, the TIPRA Motha went further with its Greater Tipraland demand, seeking to include several villages outside the TTAADC areas in the proposed new state.
The TTAADC is noncontiguously spread over two thirds of Tripura’s 10,491 sq-km area and people from 19 tribal communities, who make up nearly 30 per cent of the state’s population, live in it.
Both the IPFT and the TIPRA Motha have met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda in New Delhi as well as the Election Commission of India with several demands related to tribal welfare, separate statehood, infrastructural shortcomings in tribal areas, and alleged illegal immigration inside Tripura and the TTAADC areas.
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The IPFT plans to hold a larger demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in November demanding Tipraland along with other organisations demanding smaller states such as Gorkhaland, Vidarbha, Karbi Anglong, and Kukiland.
The IPFT was raised in 1997 with slogans of self-determination for indigenous communities. The party underwent several splits till it merged with the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra and resurfaced in 2009 with the slogan of Tipraland. The party has since observed Statehood Demand Day on August 23, the day when the TTAADC’s elected body came into effect in 1984.
The IPFT’s youth front will hold a motorcycle rally on August 23, according to its secretary, Bikash Debbarma.
The IPFT protested at Jantar Mantar on August 23 last year instead of holding a rally in Agartala.
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