Tripura: Victims displaced by insurgency seek rehabilitation, compensation

Speaking to indianexpress.com, Udbastu Unnayan Committee secretary Sajal Podder said, “Our memorandum sought the government to recognise us as displacees. We are children of this land and have been evicted from our homes due to insurgency. The government has resettled Bru migrants from Mizoram here. We are from this state itself and want to be rehabilitated and compensated as well.”

The insurgency-induced displacees said only 931 out of the 6,500 displaced families in Sipahijala and West Tripura have received housing benefits so far while 202 families were granted rehabilitation benefits at four resettlement colonies by the government. The colonies include Nagicherra Udbastu (displacee) Colony, Neharchandra Nagar Udbastu Colony, Dakshin Narayanpur Gopal Colony and Pritilata Udbastu Colony.

While the rest are staying on rent or relocating frequently, living on khash (government) land till someone objects, they are often left on the mercy of local people and many have suffered multiple displacement.

Citing the issues, the Udbastu Unnayan Committee demanded compensation of Rs 5 lakh and waiver of nazrana for registration of the land provided for their rehabilitation.

The displacee leaders warned large-scale movement unless specific steps were taken soon and said, “We have submitted 7-8 memoranda on the same issue to the local administration earlier and a couple more at Sepahijala district. We are going to wait for a week to see what steps are taken. If no steps are taken, we will decide our next course of action.”

The displacees said they were evicted from their homes during armed insurgency during the Left regime. Armed insurgency, which started in Tripura with the Sengkrak in the 1960s, swelled in the late 80s and 1990s. The issue was largely resolved by 2010 when the BJP-led government dealt a crushing blow in 2019 when over 80 cadres of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) surrendered before the state government.