As BJP returns to power in Tripura, panel on tribal rights still to complete work 5 years later

The high-level committee formed by the MHA was announced on September 27 with nine members on board, including Special Secretary of Internal Security, MHA, Joint Secretary (NE), MHA, the joint secretaries of the ministries of Tribal Affairs, Human Resources Development (now Ministry of Education), Health and Family Welfare, Environment, Skill Development and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), besides the advisor of NITI Aayog.

Three other members of the committee were to be inducted from representatives delegated by the state government and the committee was expected to submit its report within 60 days. But even after the passage of nearly five years, the committee has not submitted any report.

To an RTI query by The Indian Express seeking details of the deliberations made by the committee since its inception, the MHA replied, “Since the work of this committee formed in September 2018 is yet to be completed, it is not in the public interest to disclose the sought information at this stage.”

The IPFT was so keen on getting this committee formed that after the first BJP government was formed in the state in March 2018, its tribal leaders launched protests across the state against the “delay” on the Centre’s part in setting up the panel.

Immediately after it was formed, the committee visited the state in October 2018. Parties including the IPFT, BJP and the CPM had also submitted their suggestions to the committee in writing.

Although the demand for a separate state of Tipraland was not under its purview, the IPFT, in its submission, had said that the committee “should make serious attempts to find out the reasons behind the demand for the separate state of ‘Tipraland’ and address the related issues accordingly.”

While the IPFT gradually toned down its demand for ‘Tipraland’ over five years with its MLAs getting inducted as ministers in the state Cabinet, the issue was revived by the TIPRA Motha, led by royal scion Pradyot Debbarma, which has emerged as the second largest party by winning 13 seats in the 60-member state Assembly in the recent polls.

Having been reduced to a minority by lakhs of displaced Bengalis from east Pakistan settling down in the state during Partition and during the battle for the liberation of Bangladesh, tribals in Tripura have long been demanding measures to protect their rights and culture. The resentment also gave birth to a raging insurgency which has significantly ebbed over the last decade.

However, political mobilisation around the issue continues to fetch electoral dividends, as demonstrated by the success of the IPFT in 2018 and the TIPRA Motha in 2023. With the IPFT’s support base witnessing a massive erosion, the BJP has been trying to mend fences with the TIPRA Motha and induct it into the new government which will have its swearing-in on March 8.