AGARTALA, Feb 23 — Congress ally Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) in its manifesto has sought to bring all the tribal ethnic groups under one umbrella, “Borok” nation and pledged to turn the Tripura Trial Area Autonomous District Council into “Borok Autonomous Regional Council.” The demand however invited sharp reaction from the ruling Left Front which felt the promise only smacks of INPT’s hidden agenda of ‘sovereign Tripura’s at the instance of the banned NLFT militants. The INPT also promised to identify the non-tribals who entered illegally, and deport them.
The tribal party however skipped other highly controversial and contentious issues keeping in mind that it might affect their alliance with Congress which is also heavily dependent on Bengali votes. The manifesto mainly emphasises preservation of language and culture of the tribals, development of the backward tribes and social justice system. Speaking on the occasion, Assistant general secretary, INPT and executive member, District Council, Sridam Debbarma said, the manifesto had been prepared keeping the interest of the tribal population in view. Among the major issues featuring in the manifesto are formation of a “Borok community” with all the 19 tribes in the state an introduction of Roman script upto the higher education level. “We will try to preserve the cultural heritage of the 19 tribes in the state,” Debbarma said.
Other major issues featuring in the INPT manifesto are identify cards for the tribals of the state, expediting the Indo-Bangaldesh border fencing, implementation of the three-tier Panchayati Raj system under the Sixth Schedule with proper amendments, direct funding to the ADC with amendments under Article 275(a), handing over of 31 departments to the ADC like the one existing in Karbi Anglong and NC Hills in Assam, implementation of the existing customary law, extension of the trans-Asian-trunk road to Tripura setting up of an airport in the ADC area and uplift of the Agartala airport.
Several contentious issues like the inner line permit, proposed change of Tripura’s name to Twipra have been put on the backburner which political observers feel may hamper their prospects. Sridam also demanded identification and deportation of the illegal foreigners under the Indira-Mujib pact.