Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Friday took a dig at the demand of “Tipraland” saying that such divisive slogans will never foster a conducive atmosphere for last mile delivery of development.
Speaking at a workshop of tribal community heads, locally known Samajpatis, at Pragna Bhavan in Agartala, Dr Saha said, “Divisive politics is a means of serving the self-interest of some people. We believe in inclusive development where each of the community will be treated equally and receive same quantum of benefit from the government. The seed of division had been sown long back through communal riots of 1980 but that should not be our legacy”.
Divide and rule politics, he said, will not be tolerated by government. Saha’s statement came weeks after A K Mishra, the advisor of the Ministry of Home Affairs for Northeast, held a meeting in New Delhi with a delegation of the Tipra Motha which has been demanding a separate Greater Tipraland state for tribals.
“There should not be any division among the people as we all are united to achieve Ek Tripura Shrestha Tripura (One Tripura Great Tripura),” he said.
The concept of Greater Tipraland’ has not been specified, though it is supposed to include parts of several other northeastern states and Bangladesh, besides Tripura.
“The slogan for Tipraland was raised to mislead the people… We have seen crocodile tears for 30 years (Left regime) to achieve political goals. They used the tribal vote bank politics,” the chief minister said.
In an oblique reference to royal head and former chairman of TIPRA Motha Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, the Chief Minister said, “People should respect the honor this government has accorded to them”.
He also referred to the renaming of Agartala airport to Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport and Tripura’s zero-line post to Maharaja Bir Bikram chowmuhani. Refuting the allegations of step motherly treatment of the TTAADC by the state government in terms of fund transfer, Dr Saha said all these allegations are baseless.
“This is an attempt to portray the policies of the state government in bad light. The TTAADC says only Rs 600 crore has been released by the state government whereas it is completely wrong. Under the 39-line departments of the state government, more than Rs 5,000 crore is being spent for the development tribal areas. The national highways being constructed mostly fall in the tribal dominated regions. Apart from that, Rs 1,300 crore world bank project is being implemented for the development of health, education and livelihood sectors in the TTAADC areas”, he said.
According to Dr Saha, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed the charge of office, national security has been strengthened manifold both at the national borders and inter-state borders.
“All long pending disputes have been settled under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. North East region including Tripura was once considered to be one of the troubled areas due to insurgent movement, but things have improved dramatically. In fact, many investors are now eager to invest in small states like Tripura,” he said.
On Manipur violence, Dr Saha said that the problem will solved very soon. “Whatever we are witnessing in Manipur is going to get resolved very soon. There is a well-orchestrated conspiracy and sinister planning behind the ethnic violence that marred the peaceful state”, Dr Saha told the gathering.
“We stand for solution of problems. We don’t seek to keep a problem alive to gain political mileage out of it unlike the previous government in the state. PM Modi speaks about Swacch Bharat which should reflect in our mindset and action as well”, he added.
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Dr Saha also informed the gathering that all preparations have been done to operationalise the Indo-Bangla Maitri setu built over river Feni in South Tripura district.
“In all possibilities, the bridge will be opened for movement of passengers and goods in the month of September. Later this year Agartala-Akhaura railway link will be inaugurated. If all these connectivity projects put to function, Tripura will become the hotspot of trade and commercial activities. This is the development we all need,” he added.
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