TRIPURA POLLS

Nation’s Unity At Stake

Sitaram Yechury

THE forthcoming assembly elections in Tripura are not ordinary elections.  At stake are two fundamental issues that are crucial for the future of India. The first concerns the territorial unity and integrity of India.  The National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) -- a banned and outlawed extremist organisation -- openly advocates separation from the country.  Its political wing, the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) chief, Bejoy Hrangkhawl, in a speech in Geneva delivered in July last year had characterised the extremist activities in Tripura as a "liberation struggle".   Through these columns earlier, we had discussed in detail the proclamations, activities and character of the extremist movement  in Tripura.  These need not be repeated.  Suffice it to state that the NLFT resorts to the most heinous of methods in terrorising  the population to submission.  It is only the brave and courageous struggle put up by the CPI(M) and its cadres that has prevented Tripura from degenerating  into a permanent state of insurgency.

Even, as we go to press, comes the news of yet another CPI(M) leader brutally murdered by the NLFT extremists.   Naresh Deb, a local committee member of Karamcherra in Dholai sub-division was kidnapped on the night of January 21.  His body was discovered this morning (January 22).  Since the announcement of the elections on January 11, eleven other cadres and sympathisers have been done to death by the extremists. The CPI(M) is battling these forces and its principled stand against the extremists and terrorists marks out as the highest manifestation of patriotism in the defence of our country's unity and integrity. 

In this context, the alliance struck by the Congress with the INPT is tantamount to giving both credibility and strength to the anti-national forces.  In its desire to reap political and electoral benefits, the Congress has, once again, placed the interests of its party not only above that of the country's but also against it. In the interests of strengthening India's unity and integrity, it is imperative that the Congress-INPT be defeated in these elections. 

The Congress party spares no effort in claiming forever that it was primarily responsible for India's freedom from colonial rule.  In the process, it has continuously negated the role of the popular masses and the mighty sacrifices made by them in this glorious struggle. 

In Tripura particularly, the then vacillating Maharaja who was considering exercising the provisions of the Mountbatten accord to remain independent was forced by a mighty movement of the tribals led by the communists like late Comrade Dasarath Deb to join the Indian Union.  The leading lights of the same erstwhile Royal family subsequently became prominent leaders of the Congress party in Tripura!

The CPI(M)-led state Left Front government had, on various occasions,  submitted to the central government detailed accounts with maps of terrorist camps operating across the border in Bangladesh.  Tripura has a long 856 kilometer porous border with Bangladesh. In its anxiety to bolster communal polarisation by exploiting the cross-border terrorism  encouraged by Pakistan for its political advantage, the Vajpayee government has paid little attention to  terrorist activities on the country's eastern border.    This is yet another instance of how the BJP and the central government place their partisan political and electoral interests above the interests of the country. What is at stake in these elections, therefore, is the very unity and integrity of the country and those forces working against this must be defeated. 

The second issue at stake is the unity of the tribal and non-tribal population so assiduously built by the CPI(M) over the years.  Tripura is universally acknowledged as having the best harmonious equation between these sections of the population in the entire North-East.  It was under the first Left Front government that the Autonomous District Councils for the tribal areas were established which protected the economic and cultural interests of the tribal population as nowhere else in the country. 

It is this unity that is sought to be disrupted by the Congress-INPT alliance for the sake of garnering  votes. The murderous attacks in the tribal areas by the NLFT/INPT seek to terrorise the population into submission. They consequently hope to capitalise on this for their electoral benefit. On the other hand, the Congress had, often in the past, roused and whipped up Bengali chauvinism with a distinct anti-tribal approach for electoral benefit. The Congress-INPT alliance, this time around, is seeking to disrupt the social harmony in Tripura.  This will have grave consequences for the future with tension and strife being the order of the day.  For the sake of their partisan political and electoral interests, they are willing to put at stake peace and normalcy in the state. 

LF’s IMPECCABLE RECORD

The basic issues of economic development and the better livelihood for the people in Tripura can be dealt with only when the forces who are out to create chaos and  encourage anti-national extremists  are defeated. The Left Front government has an impeccable record in improving the economic standards of the people during the last five years.  In the corridors of Delhi, there is universal recognition and  appreciation of the fact that amongst all the North-Eastern states, it is the government of Tripura that stands head and shoulders  above the rest in delivering  to the people the benefits of central assistance and projects.  On the contrary, the past record of the Congress in office has been one of large-scale misappropriation and loot of these resources meant for people's welfare. 

The elections in Tripura, therefore, will not be an ordinary exercise.  The Congress-INPT alliance seems determined to escalate violence as the campaign picks up.  At the same time, there is a palpable degree of enthusiasm amongst the people to defeat these forces  that seek to derail the process of economic development and push Tripura into a state of chaotic violence. The massive response and positive enthusiasm  seen in the recent statewide rallies of youth and women are a pointer to the fact that the people of Tripura are determined not to allow this anti-national Congress-INPT alliance to succeed in these elections. 

The people of Tripura who are in the midst of a grim battle require today the support and solidarity of all  our countrymen who cherish the unity and integrity of India and its social harmony.