74 Tripura surrendered ultras complete vocational training

AGARTALA, Dec 17 — The hands which were once used to fire automatic Kalashnikovs, will now drive sleek cars, or curve out furniture from timbers. People who once feared the gun-totting militants, will now find them of great help. The first batch of the 74 surrendered militants who had left their underground organisations and joined one year vocational training at the Love Story Bazar Rehabilitation Centre in South Tripura district, completed their training on December 16 last. The vocations they have been trained in included electronics, tailoring, carpentry, electrical wiring, driving, motor mechanism etc. The training will help the surrenderees becoming economically independent besides leading a normal life with their family, said Chief Minister Manik Sarkar who was the chief guest on the occasion. He also mentioned that the present Tripura is still suffering the aftermath of partition of India. Sarkar also accused the then leaders of Tripura for their myopic attitude towards the State which later gave birth to militancy. ‘Due to partition of the country, our State is still the worst sufferer as most of the roads, rail lines, ports and other avenues of development were once in princely Tripura went to erstwhile East Pakistan,’ Sarkar observed. The Chief Minister also distributed driving licenses, bank pass books, certificates, loans among the surrenderees. This is the second batch of surrendered militants of the State which had completed such vocational training. Last year another group of 60 surrendered militants including two women had successfully come out the Shikaribari centre in Dhalai district which is first of its type in the State. The training is jointly sponsored by the Union Home Ministry and the State Government and is aimed at rehabilitation of the misguided youths who had taken to arms for ‘Independent Tripra.’ Chief Secretary, V Thulasidas said, seeing the surrenderees leading a normal life, others who are still in the path of violence, will shun violence and would desert the jungle life.