Agartala: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Saturday extended his support to the cause of constitution solution—the war cry of the principal opposition party of Tripura, TIPRA Motha—for Tripura’s indigenous people and assured his party would take every step to have the issue discussed in parliament.
The senior NPP leader who had arrived at Agartala to attend the mega mass gathering organised by the TIPRA Motha vouched for a greater regional alliance among the tribal parties active in the Northeast region to press for demands of people living in this part of the land.
“Many people asked me as to why I was interested in joining this mega mass gathering here. Truly speaking, I have told them that I am not only going here for my friend Maharaja Pradyot Manikya and to meet my brothers and sisters of the Tiprasa community but also to extend my support to the demands, ideas and views expressed by the indigenous people of the state. I extend my solidarity to the cause of a constitutional solution,” he said.
Recalling the veteran leaders of the Northeast, Sangma said, “The Northeast has produced many leaders in the past who had fought for the rights of the indigenous people and raised their issues at different levels. Be it BK Hranghkwal from Tripura, Mizoram CM Zoramthanga, PA Sangma from Meghalaya or others, their contribution to the interest of indigenous people could be felt by the present generation. They might have had different methods of exerting pressure on the government and, please don’t take me wrong, I am not passing any judgment on what they had done for the people of this region, but their goal was one. Their primary objective was to get the voices of their people heard.”
Explaining the significance of numbers in politics, Sangma kept on saying, “We are a democracy and in a democratic system, the numbers matter. The time has come for all the tribal societies of the Northeast region to come under one umbrella to get their voices heard. When we should speak in a united voice.”
“I am assuring this massive gathering that one day the issues being faced by the Tiprasa community through any of the channels will reach the parliament,” Sangma added.
Speaking on the occasion, TIPRA Motha founder and member of the newly-constituted Central Working Committee, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarman said, “All regional parties of Northeast stitched alliances with the national parties except NPP in Meghalaya and TIPRA Motha in Tripura.
In Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma won the elections. In Tripura, Bubagra might have lost, but he showed the country that we have the guts to fight. For those confused, this party is not for making people Chief Minister, MLA or Minister. This party is a movement for the rights of people.”
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From the stage of the mass gathering, Debbarman called upon all the tribal communities of the Northeast to unite for a greater alliance. “A catastrophe has hit Sikkim in the form of flash floods. That incident failed to draw the attention of the media. Manipur is burning, but it does not get covered by the national media. All day long, they keep giving updates on what is happening in Delhi or the Israel-Palestine conflict. This is why I have been saying again and again: all the indigenous communities—Khasis, Jaintia, Kuki, Meietei, Naga, Dimasa, Mizos, Bodos and Tiprasas must come under one platform and work under a shared ideology,” Debbbarman added.
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