Betrayed by CPM, ignored by BJP: Why Tripura’s Muslims are joining TIPRA Motha

Agartala: Abu Khayer Miah, an ex-Assam Rifles officer, is a busy man. Miah served in the central paramilitary force for 21 years before taking voluntary retirement. His reason? “Serving the society,” he tells EastMojo.

Khayer was born and brought up in Boxanangar, a Muslim majority area that is considered a Left citadel. Miah joined TIPRA Motha and many believe he is a strong contender for a party ticket.

Miah did not just go from being a serviceman to a contender. Over the past few years, he has helped TIPRA expand its party footprints in crucial pockets. And his efforts have paid off too.

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TIPRA, a regional political outfit, made a lateral entry in Boxanagar in search of the indigenous vote bank of three village councils under the jurisdiction of the assembly constituency. Following TIPRA’s win in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), the party steadily made a dent in the general areas too.

In a detailed conversation with EastMojo, Miah said his sole motive was to ensure that the people in his area were happy. “TIPRA Motha, led by Maharaja Pradyot Kishore Debbarman, is a party that speaks about the rights of deprived people. It is a fight for rights, not power.”

Boxanagar is a rural constituency of Tripura that has always faced the apathy of ruling parties. It doesn’t matter who rules the state, people here have not seen any visible development. Most of the people live below the poverty line, and in search of income, they are often misguided towards illegal means, such as smuggling.

“Our motive is simple. We want to end this culture. Students in our area should be motivated towards studies; they should become doctors and engineers instead of being lured towards easy options with no future,” said Miah, who also believes that first the CPIM and then the BJP used the Muslims for political gains.

“These national parties had no specific plans for the development of Muslims. The BJP plays the communal polarisation card to create a divide. The CPIM dons the secular mask to betray the people. Our MLA Sahid Chowdhury was a senior CPIM leader in the state cabinet. In all these years our area did not see any visible infrastructure boost. The roads are full of potholes, the markets are decrepit and the schools do not have the infrastructure. In a nutshell, after winning the elections, they leave us on our own. If TIPRA promises us a new way, why shouldn’t we at least give this new party a chance?” Miah said when asked about his reason to join TIPRA.

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Muslims in TIPRA: A trickle or a flow?

In the past few months, many senior Muslim leaders from Sonamura, Boxanagar and the high-profile constituency of Dhanpur have joined TIPRA. Dhanpur is politically significant as the Leader of the Opposition, Manik Sarkar, and senior BJP leader Pratima Bhoumik, now the Union Minister of State Social Justice and Empowerment, contested the last elections from there. Sarkar defeated Bhoumik in her home constituency, but the BJP steamrolled CPIM in the state elections.

When asked about his stand on issues like NRC and CAA, Miah said, “I have served in the Indian forces, and I have the guts to call a spade a spade. NRC is for the protection of domicile Indians, including Muslims. Infiltration is a big issue in bordering areas. We have instances of foreigners getting government jobs here in Tripura within ten years of settling down while our local youth opt for smuggling and ruining their lives. NRC is for the protection of local citizens, and we stand firm with the stand of the Maharaja (Pradyot),” Miah says.

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Miah, however, came down heavily on the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), dubbing it the BJP’s tool to “recharge divisive politics in areas.”

“In India, Muslims are a minority. But, in Boxanagar, Hindus are a minority. As a member of the majority community, my responsibility is to protect the people who are lesser in number. The same applies in the bigger context. People of this area have already rejected BJP’s divisive agenda, and I hope this time the popular mandate will be with TIPRA given the public response on the ground,” he said.

“The CPIM is the main political adversary in the constituency. Although BJP has won the Panchayat elections, corrupt practices of the local leadership have isolated the saffron party from its voters,” he added.

TIPRA: Miles to go in non-tribal areas

Even as TIPRA is making concerted efforts to win the confidence of minority voters in Boxanagar, CPIM is still strong enough in the region. And, people believe BJP’s chances of scoring in Boxanagar, Dhanpur and Sonamura are near zero.

Latif Miah, who runs Fahima Stores at Sonamura says it is hard to understand the public’s pulse. “The opposition parties are working silently. Due to the violent political overtures, people skip showing face in public at opposition party meetings as this can cause hostile situations for their livelihood. But yes, TIPRA has gained a lot of ground in the Boxanagar area, which might create problems for others. Everybody is waiting for the polls,” he said.

Sonamura is another constituency retained by Left MLA Shyamal Chakraborty in 2018. In the last four and half years, BJP was successful in wresting power in the local body polls, and the CPIM MLA failed to make his presence felt. Unlike Boxanagar and Dhanpur, Sonamura is a general seat sans any ADC (tribal-dominated) village. But even here, people have joined TIPRA, influenced by the party’s growth in neighbouring constituencies.

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This does not take away the fact that TIPRA is still struggling to emerge as a deterrent factor for other parties in Sonamura, but the party’s presence cannot be ignored. Delowar Hossian, an imam in the Madrasa located in the Rabindranagar area of Sonamura, joined TIPRA recently.

Hossain has been fighting for the rights of families that lost their loved ones in mob lynching and police brutality incidents. His organisation, the Nagarik Suraksha Mazlish (NSM), has conducted several protests in Sonamura and other areas.

“We have been fighting for these issues for the last couple of years. NSM is a completely independent organisation that will continue its work. The District President of NSM is the Block Congress President in Sonamura. So our people are working in different political parties, but socially we stand united.”

Where do Muslims stand on Greater Tipraland?

The rallying call of the TIPRA Motha has been the fight for ‘Greater Tipraland’. When asked, Hossain said, “Greater Tipraland has been envisioned by the Maharaj to empower people who can’t exercise their rights. This way, we support Greater Tipraland because Maharaj never spoke a single word against any community. If he wants more rights for his community, and that too within the purview of the Indian Constitution, what is the harm?”

Abu Khayer of Boxanagar concurs with Hossain. “The NRC and Greater Tipraland fall in the same line. I will do whatever is needed to protect this land where Hindus and Muslims have been coexisting peacefully for scores of years,” said Miah.

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The role of Dhanpur in TIPRA

Dhanpur, which has the largest share of tribal votes in all three constituencies, is the biggest TIPRA stronghold. The constituency has as many as ten TTAADC village councils. TIPRA’s rise here was much quicker than Boxanagar and Sonamura.

Amiya Noatia, TIPRA’s leading face in Dhanpur, said, “Our constituency is always in the limelight. Both Union Minister of State Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik and former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar have contested from this constituency. They are senior leaders, but that did not affect our organisation. We are in a good position electorally and feel the results will be in our favour.”

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He said, “People here are deprived, irrespective of religion and community. Be it a Hindu, a Tiprasa or a Muslim, no one is happy with the government. I am a voter from the Dhanpur area. During elections, political leaders make tall promises but rarely do we see any development work on the ground. The growing disappointment among the public drove them towards our party, and we welcome them.”

According to Noatia, around 14,000 indigenous votes are divided across ten TTAADC village bodies. Hindus constitute the major vote bank at 30,000, while Muslim votes stand at 13,000. In three ADC villages of Boxanagar, the vote share of the tribal population will be around 7,000. More than 60 per cent of the total voters in Boxanagar are Muslims. At Sonamura, around 45 per cent of voters come from the Muslim community.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also admits that 10 to 11 per cent of the Muslim minority has not voted for the party. But, for the upcoming election, the BJP feels things could be different.

BJP Minority Morcha President and WAKF Board Chairman Shah Alam claims the rise of TIPRA motha in minority areas was a well-orchestrated CPIM conspiracy. The CPIM has played an active role in misguiding the Muslims, he said.

“The CPIM says BJP is an anti-Muslim party. I have been working for the BJP, and so far, I have seen nothing against Muslims. On the contrary, the Left and Congress deprived the Muslim-dominated areas. Today, there are no schools and no good colleges in these areas. Better health facilities and smooth transportation are distant dreams. The CPIM was in power for 25 years: What did they do? And now people in leading positions of Left parties are joining TIPRA to betray the people again,” said Alam.

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Alam said he has been touring all the Muslim-dominated areas of the state with the slogan of development. “Recently, Rs 1.15 crore was released for the installation of computers in over 100 madrasas. WAKF board properties are being identified and brought under the board’s possession. The board’s annual budget has risen to Rs 70 lakh from Rs 35 lakh. We have sought Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha’s intervention to increase the size of the budget to at least Rs 2 crore. If the Muslim voters of Tripura repeat the same mistake of 2018, they will slide further backwards. I am trying to bring them into the mainstream,” he added.

CPIM State Secretary Jitendra Chowdhury took the diplomatic route by not commenting against TIPRA. “People have their right to do politics. TIPRA’s approach has drawn positive results in some of the pockets. We are making all efforts to prevent any erosion in our support base,” he told EastMojo.

Congress’ media in-charge Asish Kumar Saha echoed the same but appealed to the Muslim leaders to stay with the mainstream political parties. “We are aware of that. My point is about the way Congress is reviving its lost ground in Tripura politics. People should stand firm with the party that understands the country’s pulse and believes in the mantra of Unity in Diversity,” he said.

Meanwhile, TIPRA Chief Pradyot Kishore Debbarman told EastMojo, “I don’t see people on religious lines. Those joining our party are Indian citizens; they are neither Muslims nor Hindus. We want people from each section of the society to come forward and work for the betterment of society, rising above all kinds of factionalism or radical thought process.”

While Debbarman may claim he does not see religion, but even he knows the value of votes. And if the Muslims of Tripura vote en masse for Tipra Motha, he would be the last person to complain. 

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