People's Democracy

TRIPURA

Pro-People, Anti-Insurgency Drives Make Further Gains

COUPLED with the Left Front government’s vigorous pursuit of pro-people programmes, especially in the spheres of education and health care, and the success of the recently concluded week-long, biggest festival of Tripura tribals that further boosted the multi-ethnic culture of the state, the ceaseless toning up of the administration statewide for counter-insurgency crackdown has brought a series of spectacular successes. On July 10, while the chief minister Manik Sarkar opened a 200-bed annex of the IGM Hospital in Agartala and formed a special committee for speeding up the ongoing literacy campaign in areas under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC) in a review meeting held at the ADC headquarters at Khumulawng, two hardcore militants of the outlawed extremist organisation NLFT (BM) were killed and 7 pieces of sophisticated firearms seized, in two separate encounters with the security forces in Dhalai district. 

During a special round-up operation by the Assam Rifles on the day, at about 1.30 p m, NLFT (BM) gunmen opened fire on the jawans in a densely forested area of Khowai-Longthorai valley, deep inside the Atharomura Hills, 20 km away from the Dhalai district’s headquarters at Ambassa. Following a pitched and prolonged battle, the dead bodies of two extremists with two self-loaded rifles were recovered from the spot while others escaped deeper into the jungle. Then followed a massive manhunt in the area, led by the top brass of the local police and paramilitary combine. 

Earlier, on July 9, acting on a tip-off, a BSF battalion carried out a nocturnal ambush at an extremist den in a deserted site of tribal shifting cultivation in the Longthorai Valley subdivision of Dhalai district. Sensing after a while the possible retreat of the extremists into the adjacent jungle, BSF jawans entered into the extremist hideout and recovered 5 sophisticated firearms and a wireless apparatus. Besides giving a blow to both the outlawed extremist organisations of the state, NLFT and ATTF, the police of Manu police station in Dhalai district arrested a hardcore NLFT extremist with numerous specific charges against him. Also, on July 10, a self-styled sergeant of the ATTF, deemed by the police to be a top gun of the outlawed organisation, surrendered to the SDPO of Sadar subdivision in West Tripura. 
On the other hand, symbolising the Left Front government’s pro-people ventures, the chief minister inaugurated on July 10 the newly constructed 200-bed annex at the state government’s IGM hospital in the heart of the state capital and a newly installed round-the-clock radio diagnosis unit set up and to be run by a private party. In his inauguration address, Manik Sarkar allayed the private players’ usual fear of financial loss by assuring them of a moderate profit under the currently growing affluence of the state’s population. But he affirmed that these players have to abide by the pro-people and pro-poor conditions. He said the state government would never compromise on its principles despite all pressure from the centre to stop free service to the people in education and health care sectors. 

On the same day, the chief minister chaired a review meeting of the state literacy mission at the ADC headquarters at Khumulawng. The meeting formed a special committee for speeding up the ongoing literacy drive in the backward ADC areas. School education minister Keshab Majumder was made chairman and social education secretary the convener of this committee. Social education minister Manik Dey, tribal development minister Jitendra Chowchury, ADC chief executive member Aghore Debbarma and education executive member Radhacharan Debbarma and four zonal chairpersons of the ADC are its other members. 

A threadbare discussion on the problems and prospects of education in the ADC areas was carried out at the review meeting, giving a clear guideline to the future activities of the newly formed committee 

Earlier, on the penultimate day of the weeklong festival shared by the tribals and non-tribals of Tripura in a milieu of ethnic harmony, the police recovered 10 live bombs from Moharchhara under Teliamura subdivision in West Tripura, not far from the festival site near Agartala. The police defused the bombs which, it said, were planted by the UBLF miscreants to trigger ethnic tensions in the area. (INN)