Opinion Call for attention
Tribal unrest in Tripura has sounded a warning that its government and political parties would do well to heed.
Agartala: A two-wheeler in flames during a clash between local people and the supporters of Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) after they vandalized shops and vehicles during their rally demanding for separate statehood - Tipraland, in Agartala on Tuesday. PTI Photo (PTI8_23_2016_000274B) *** Local Caption *** 
The clashes IN Agartala following a march by the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) on August 23 have exposed a faultline that can undo the gains the state has made in the past decade or so. The violence, which left over a hundred people injured, has triggered an exodus of tribals, especially students, from the state capital. It has accentuated anxieties of a backlash from the dominant Bengali population and possible counter-mobilisation that may deepen the old divide between the Kokborok-speaking indigenous people and the Bengali settlers. The IPFT had organised last week’s march to press the demand for a separate tribal state: The IPFT wants the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council to be turned into Twipraland. The issues of tribal alienation are real and need redress, but statehood based on exclusionist politics is neither a feasible goal nor the appropriate solution.
Tribals, who were a majority in the kingdom of Tripura at the beginning of the 20th century, now constitute just about a third of the state’s population. The demographic change began in the pre-Independence era when agricultural settlements were encouraged in forested areas. Partition and the Bangladesh war accentuated the process. State building in Tripura has been mostly a centralised activity that focused on urban areas, which were also home to non-tribals. The skewed development pattern and tribal unrest predates Independence, but governments, even after Tripura became a full-fledged state in 1972, failed to resolve this issue. Tribal unrest had become an insurgency in the 1990s with armed groups seeking secession. Smart politics, decentralisation of governance, and effective policing allowed the Manik Sarkar government to defang the insurgents; the government withdrew the AFSPA last year, 18 years after it was imposed in the state. More needs to be done. Besides addressing issues of land alienation among tribals, the government needs to expand infrastructure and extend public services to tribal areas so that the ethnic divide, which is also economic, is bridged. With transport links to Bangladesh set to be upgraded, the state can emerge as a business gateway to northeast India.
Assembly elections are due in 18 months and the state is witnessing a realignment of political forces: The CPM is now challenged by the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. A restive tribal population, however, will not benefit the long-term interests of the state.
Share
