BJP Tripura ally to hold demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Aug 23 demanding separate Tipraland state

The IPFT was formed in the 1990s with the goal of carving out ‘Tipraland’ from Tripura. The party underwent several splits but re-emerged in 2009 under N C Debbarma. It allied with the BJP before the 2018 Assembly polls in Tripura and formed a coalition government.

The party’s prime demand of a separate state has not seen much progress yet, though a high-level fact-finding modality committee was formed in 2018 to examine socio-cultural, ethnic, linguistic and economic problems of Tripura’s indigenous communities.

In 2019, the IPFT held a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and requested the Central government to expedite the report of the committee.

In 2021, the IPFT along with the TIPRA Motha held a demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to press the Centre for a separate Tipraland state for tribals.

August 23 has been observed as ADC (Autonomous District Council) formation day since 1984. The IPFT has been observing the day as Tipraland Statehood Demand Day since 2009.

With the influx of over 15 lakh people into Tripura from the erstwhile East Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, the then-majority tribal population of the state became a minority.