People's Democracy

TRIPURA

Extremists Gun Down CPI(M)-GMP Leader

Haripada Das

ON October 16, extremists belonging to the outlawed ATTF gunned down Comrade Bidya Debbarma, a leader of the CPI(M) and Ganamukti Parishad (GMP) and a popular personality among all sections, tribals as well as non-tribals, in Champaknagar locality under Sadar subdivision. It was about 7.00 in the evening when the killer gang intruded into Comrade Debbarma’s house and dragged him away. While the inmates of the house were still trying to figure out what to do, they heard a bullet shot and Comrade Bidya Debbarma’s scream. This made them aware of the fate of Bidya Debbarma. The police recovered the comrade’s dead body that night from a ditch not very far off from the house in East Janmejoynagar under Jirania police station, West Tripura. He was a former chairman of the Janmejoynagar village panchayat.

October 16 was the Laxmi Puja day which is extensively observed by almost every family in tribal areas. Only a day before, the people had ignored the call of ATTF and NLFT extremists to observe a ‘Black Day’ on October 15, the day of Tripura’s accession to the Indian Union in 1949. The extremists therefore struck when the people were observing a religious festival. Comrade Bidya Debbarma must, naturally, have been one of their foremost targets as he was a solid pillar of unity of the tribal and non-tribal people in the area and an outspoken campaigner against extremism.

Next morning, CPI(M) state secretariat Member Manik Dey, state committee member and ADC executive member Radhacharan Debbarma and other leaders visited the house of the deceased and consoled his relatives. They also visited the spot where Comrade Debbarma was gunned down. Before the funeral procession started, Manik Dey laid red flag on Comrade Bidya Debbarma’s body, while it was draped in a Ganamukti Parishad flag by Manoranjan Debbarma. The cremation took place in the same village in presence of party leaders, hundreds of party workers and the comrade’s admirers.

In a statement, the CPI(M) state secretariat termed it as the cold-blooded killing of a political leader who was a vanguard of peace offensive and a key figure in the implementation of developmental works in the area. The extremists had committed this political annihilation out of utter frustration and alienation, the statement said. While demanding immediate arrest of the killers, the statement urged upon the party units to further intensify their political-ideological campaign against the extremists. (INN)