People's Democracy

THE state government of Tripura has refuted the allegations made by the Congress(I) in a press conference in New Delhi on January 18. The state government said the Congress has levelled these concocted charges with an ulterior motive, with an intention to divert the attention of the state’s people from whom it stands isolated because of its misdeeds and anti-people policies. Such allegations would only strengthen the hands of the extremists and anti-national forces, the state government warned.

It will be noted that the Congress party attributed to the Tripura government heinous acts of killing, kidnapping and arson being perpetrated by terrorists.

The state government strongly said insurgency is a long-standing problem in the north-eastern states. Tripura has been suffering from it for no less than 30 years, and it is not a creation of the Left Front government. The LF government has outlawed the ATTF and NLFT, the two extremist outfits. These organisations have more than 50 camps in Bangladesh and are reported to be receiving active help from the ISI. They are working closely with other extremist outfits of the north-east, mainly the NSCN and ULFA, who are using Tripura as a corridor. The state government has drawn the central government’s attention many times to these facts and urged it to put pressure on the Bangladesh government to close down these camps and hand over the terrorists.

These extremists come into the state through the long porous international border, launch attacks and then escape into their safe haven in Bangladesh. It is assessed that 18 battalions of BSF are required to guard the 856 km long border, but at present only 9 battalions are posted. As a result, there is no effective check on the terrorists’ movement across the border. After the state government’s repeated requests, the centre agreed to fence the Tripura-Bangladesh border. But there was much delay in the work’s commencement and the pace of work is very slow. Only 7.5 km border has been fenced so far.

The level of the police and army deployment in the state is inadequate. The state has a coordination committee headed by chief secretary and consisting of representatives of all security forces, including Assam Rifles, CRPF, BSF and state police. This committee assessed that Tripura requires a minimum of 8 more battalions, including 3 battalions of the army, which were earlier deployed in Tripura for counter-insurgency operations and were withdrawn. The state has been demanding deployment of 8 extra battalions of para-military forces for fighting insurgency and providing security cover to the central and state government agencies that are carrying out development works in the state. But instead of deploying extra forces, the centre withdrew a CRPF battalion and a BSF battalion recently. Despite financial stringency, the state government has in recent years strengthened the state security forces. Two battalions of Tripura State Rifles were raised with some help from the centre. Though the terrorists are still indulging in killings, kidnappings, extortions and arson, security forces are mounting pressure on them with the help of the state’s peace-loving people. Some result has been achieved in the last one year. The Left Front government is making all-out efforts to maintain ethnic and communal harmony to strengthen national integration. It is the Congress party that is out to destroy all this.

The LF government has also taken significant developmental initiatives in the last three years. A 25-point tribal development package and 44-point special development programme for welfare of the SCs, OBCs and religious minorities were taken up. A 10-year perspective plan has been drawn up for self-sufficiency in foodgrains and development of horticulture, fisheries and animal resources. New power projects are coming up. Irrigation is the main thrust area and assured irrigation potential created in the last three years is equal to 48 per cent of the entire achievement prior to 1998. The LF government has also targeted coverage of all habitations with a safe drinking water source within the year 2002. The number of houses constructed in the last three years is more than the houses provided in 9 years before that. Emphasis is also being placed on road connectivity and power supply. The LF government has taken up an effective poverty-reduction programme with special emphasis on the distressed areas. The performance of developmental works in Tripura and also the state government’s fiscal management and financial discipline have been appreciated at the national level. In the last three years, the state took not a single overdraft.

In contrast, the five years of Congress-TUJS rule (1988-93) was the time when there was no financial discipline whatsoever. Those five years of misrule blemished Tripura’s image all over the country. The democratic atmosphere was vitiated; all the elected panchayats, municipal bodies and cooperative bodies were disbanded. Elections to the Lok Sabha and the ADC held during that period were characterised by large-scale rigging and electoral malpractices. More than 400 opposition workers were killed in those days, hundreds were forced to leave the state and thousands were rendered homeless. An opposition MLA was beaten up on the floor of the assembly. A large number of women were assaulted, raped and killed. People of India have still not forgotten the Ujan Maidan incident. It is such an anti-people party that is accusing the LF government of indulging in corruption and killings.

Surprisingly, at the press conference, the Congress has not uttered a word against terrorist violence in Tripura. It is quite unfortunate that it did not draw the centre’s attention to the problems facing by the state in curbing insurgency and the state’s legitimate demand for deployment of additional forces and closure of terrorist camps in Bangladesh. Instead, the Congress party is trying to divert attention from the problem. The figures given in the press briefing in respect of the number of killings, abductions and arson in last three years are highly exaggerated. They do not match the figures given in Crime in India, an official compilation of the National Crimes Record Bureau. In fact, it is preposterous on part of the Congress party to accuse the Tripura government of indulging in murders, etc. It is the Congress itself that has aligned with the IPFT which, as everybody knows, is the political mask of the underground terrorist outfit NLFT.