NEW DELHI, Mar 5
A day after the Tipra Motha signed a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government, party founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on Sunday called off his fast-unto-death agitation being held at Hatai Kotor in West Tripura district from February 28.
Speaking to a crowd of over 30,000 at the protest site, Pradyot Kishore said, “The Government of India has accepted in writing that mistakes were made in the past and they would make Constitutional solutions to correct them. I had said here that I would go empty stomach but wouldn’t come back empty-handed. This victory isn’t a party’s victory, rather it’s the victory of youths, tribal mothers, and children. Our time is gone. Now, we have to think about the next generation.”
Pradyot Kishore further said, “Our community reached its voice in New Delhi without using guns or resorting to violence. This was possible only because we had thansa (unity).” Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Kishore ends fast Pradyot Kishore also said he would press the Centre to improve educational facilities so that tribal children can do business not just in Tripura but also in West Bengal and the rest of the country.
Comparing the tripartite accord to a newborn baby, he said tribals would have to work together to raise it now.
Pradyot Kishore said he wanted academics, teachers, lawyers, and learned and honest people who know the history of the state to become members of the Joint Working Group that has been mandated by the accord to resolve all issues of the tribals related to their history, land and political rights, culture, economic development, language, etc.
He also said he would press the Centre to improve educational facilities so that tribal children can do business not just in Tripura but also in West Bengal and the rest of the country. Terming the accord signed in New Delhi on Saturday as only 60 per cent of the ‘fight’, he said, “We have to work hard to get the remaining 40 per cent. We signed accords earlier and didn’t follow them up… If we get even 70-80 per cent of what they assured us, it will bring a major change. And if 30 per cent of the population (tribals) benefits, the remaining 70 per cent (non-tribals) will also benefit.” The Tipra Motha founder asked his supporters to maintain peace and said his fast unto death received support from Bengalis, Muslims, Manipuris, and other communities apart from tribals.
Although Pradyot Kishore did not clarify speculations about Tipra Motha joining the BJP-led state government in Tripura, he poignantly said the last reigning king of Tripura and his grandfather, Maharaj Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Debbarma, followed the principle of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ by welcoming persecuted people from erstwhile East Pakistan, way before the phrase became politically relevant.
Significantly, three out of 12 berths in the state cabinet were kept vacant, after the BJP government was re-elected under the leadership of incumbent Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha last year.
