(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist)
Vol. XXXII
No.
26
July
06 , 2008
TRIPURA
Rail
Enters Agartala after Six Decades of Struggle
ON 29 June 2008 at 3.05 pm, the rail engine linking Ambassa to Agartala
covering a stretch of 68 kilometres, finally made its way into the
Agartala station, marking the success of six decade long struggle of
the democratic movement of the state.
It was like a dream come true, a journey being completed. The Agartala
station wore a festive look from the morning itself with thousands of
people of every age and various walks of life gathering in a large
number to witness a moment which has now become an
inseparable part of the history of this tiny state�s leap forward
towards becoming a modern developed state worth comparing itself with
any other developed state of India.
With independence and partition of the country, Tripura was cut
off from the rail connectivity it had with the rest of India
through Bangladesh. This made the state land locked with only the
national highway 44 serving as a chicken neck corridor of linkage with
the mainland. From the year 1952 itself, Tripura had been demanding
rail connectivity with the rest of the nation. In 1952, in the first
elected parliament of the nation, the two communist MPs of the
state comrade Dasaratha Dev and comrade Biren Dutta for the first
time raised the demand that Tripura be connected with rail
immediately. The Congress led successive central governments never
paid attention to this justified demand of Tripura. The Congress
led governments of Tripura too had the same apathetic attitude. After a
series of mass movements, the Janata Party government at the centre in
1977 gave sanction for the Dharmanagar- Kumarghat rail project. After
1978, when Left front led by the CPI(M) assumed office in Tripura, the
struggle for rail gained momentum. There were series of movements for
rail and industrialisation. The assembly adopted resolutions in favour
of the demand and the CPI(M) MPs vociferously raised the demand in the
parliament. In 1986, a student and youth delegation led by the present
chief minister of Tripura, Manik Sarkar marched to Delhi to raise the
demand for rail and industrialisation. The then prime minister Rajiv
Gandhi however could not spare more than two minutes of time to listen
to the burning demand of Tripura. At last during the V P Singh
government�s tenure rail finally reached Kumarghat. Agartala was still
a long way to go.
In
1996, the H D Deve Gowda government sanctioned the Kumarghat � Agartala
rail project. The Congress party of the state had never supported
the demand of rail on an amusing plea that rail means encouraging
trade unions and it means strengthening of CPI(M). So, when
finally the Agartala project was sanctioned some of the news papers
faithful to Congress mocked this achievement as a toy train being
gifted to befool the people of the state. However proving all malicious
campaign to be baseless, by 2003 rail reached Manughat. However the
pace of progress of work was yet to be increased. In 2005, the
Kumarghat- Agartala project was declared as a national project due to
the constant pressure of the Left parties. On 26 January 2008, rail
engine reached Ambassa. And after five months and three days from
that date, the rail engine finally reached Agartala.
Apart from the lakhs of people who witnessed this historic moment, the
Northern Frontier Railway officials too were happy to complete the
project. Deputy chief engineer in charge of the project highly lauded
the all-round support they received from the state government. He
particularly praised the manner in which the state had arranged for
dedicated security in the working site. He expressed hope that by 15
August 2008, regular passenger service can be started on this
route.
The leaders of the democratic movement were elated at this historic
moment. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and chief minister Manik
Sarkar said that the centre took a lot of time in realising this
burning demand of the state. He hoped that the Agartala - Sabroom
railway project will soon get underway and the conversion of the rail
track from metre guage to broad guage will be completed fast. CPI(M)
state secretary Baidyanath Majumdar termed it as the fruit of the long
and consistent struggle of the people . He hoped railway line will pave
way for rapid growth in industrialisation and provide opportunities of
employment for the people. Left Front convenor Khagen Das termed
the day as a historic one. He congratulated the people for the
struggle they had waged and the Northern Frontier railway persons and
security forces who have made the dream come true.
With rail coming to Agartala and the project Sabroom about to start,
the people of Tripura are looking forward to the day when they will be
able to travel from Agartala itself to any corner of the country. Once
Sabroom is rail linked, the Chittagong port will be only 74
kilometres away, which will open up Tripura to the whole of South East
Asia, making this land locked state the gate way to the south East
Asia.
Such was the enthusiasm of the people that frequent raining and even a
long waiting could not lower their zeal on 29 June. The moment
the sound of whistle was heard people exploded in sheer joy and
ecstasy of success. The scene was almost the same in every station the
engine touched on its way from Ambassa to Agartala. All over through
the 68 kilometre stretch, people could be seen waiting eagerly to have
a glimpse of the rail engine. Finally when the engine reached Agartala
station, many could not control tears. This itself speaks of the extent
of happiness of the people who under the banner of CPI(M), Left front
and other democratic organisations have struggled for 56 years for this
day to come.
People's Democracy