Agartala: Inter-district movement of people in Tripura came to a standstill owing to the 12 hours strike called by Tripura’s principal opposition party TIPRA Motha on Saturday.
National and state highways had been blockaded at as many as 80 locations while railway services also remained suspended. All the areas where picketers gathered since the morning fall under Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) which covers over 75 percent of the state’s total geographical area.
Speaking on the issue PRO Tripura Police Jyotshiman Das Chowdhury said, “Enough security arrangements had been made in the areas where picketers have gathered in order to maintain the law and order situation. Tripura State Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force and State Police personnel had been deployed all over the state to avert any untoward incident”. According to police, no arrests had been made for law and order violations.
TIPRA Motha leaders, on the other hand, claimed that this strike was not against any community but to press the demand for a constitutional solution for the 13 lakh tribal community people of the state.
Prominent leaders of TIPRA Motha party comprising Leader of the Opposition Animesh Debbarma, TTAADC Chief Executive Member Purna Chandra Jamatia, MLA and party’s women wing chief Swapna Debbarma among others remained present in the blockades organized by various parts of the state.
In a message to the party workers, TIPRA Motha founder Pradyor Kishore Debbarman directed the picketers to refrain from violence. He had also said that all essential services, marriages and health care facilities are exempted from the strike.
Chief Executive Member Purna Chandra Jamatia described Bandh as a united appeal to the government of India for early redressal of their grievances. “This Bandh showcases the unity and brotherhood of the tribal society. Through Maharaja, this is a message from the tribal community to the government of India for early solution of our problems”, said Jamatia.
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TIPRA Motha MLA Swapna Debbarma, on the other hand, said that the demand for a separate state for the tribal people is very much constitutional under Articles 2 and 3 of the Indian constitution.
“The Indian constitution permits the formation of new states and thus we are raising this demand. If new states could be carved out in other parts of the country, I don’t see any problem with Tripura. The government of India should consider our demand and give early solutions to our problems”, she said.
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