Unlike Twipraland in Tripura, Gorkhaland and Nagaland statehood claims are problematic, says BJP ally IPFT's NC Debbarma

With a long-time demand for a separate Twipraland state, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura has forged new ties with the BJP. 

While the alliance has many takers in the hill areas, it has also led to a cause of concern after the BJP’s assurances to the Gorkhaland movement did not turn out well, and with the Naga Peace Accord being a bone of contention in neighbouring Nagaland which goes to the polls on February 27. 

The IPFT’s Narendra Chandra Debbarma speaks to DNA’s Amrita Madhukalya on the possibility of separate Twipraland. 

Here are the edited excerpts:

After your alliance with the BJP, there are many doubts that have been raised over the demand for Twipraland statehood. Do you think that it will be a possibility?

We put forward the demand for a Tripura state based on the sixth scheduled areas in 2009. This has been an uninterrupted, continuous and peaceful movement, not only from Tripura but also from the Capital. The BJP, as a national policy, favours the creation of smaller, new states. Their proven record speaks well of that policy after the creation of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

That’s why we firmly believe that the BJP will stand by that promise in Tripura too. The demands from different regions will need to be addressed with a proper perspective for the interest of regional political issues. The state BJP unit has refused to execute that, but the fact remains that the demand will be executed by the party at the Centre, and not the state government. So far our demand is with the Central government to take the steps. The MHA has agreed to constitute a high-level inter-ministerial modality committee to introspect into the background and ground reality. The committee, after examining the issue with the tribal population, will have to decide. So far, IPFT is positive. Keeping in view all that, we decided to ally with the BJP, because they are in power at the Centre, and they have the ability to do so because of a majority in the Lok Sabha. 

If you look at the BJP’s recent record, the Gorkhaland issue was not handled well. In Nagaland too, the party is facing the heat from the NSCN. Does that worry you at all?

The issue of Nagaland and of Gorkhaland has different regional characteristics. In Nagaland, it has been a pre-Independence demand for the creation of a new state with the Naga population, particularly in the peripheral areas with Myanmar and it is not easy. The demand for Gorkhaland was made during Independence by the stalwarts of the Gorkhaland movement. Gorkhaland is indeed a sentiment of the Gorkhas, but the fact remains that the geographical area, as well as the demography of the locality, is quite problematic. The demand put forward by the new leadership under Bimal Gurung and others in Darjeeling does not cover regions included in the sixth schedule. The geographical areas that they want do not have specific boundaries. 

We have specific areas as per our demand that comes under the Sixth Schedule. People who say that Tripura is too small a state to be bifurcated do not think of the sons of the soil of the state. For centuries now, we are nearing extinction because of a population explosion and the influx of foreign nationals. The tribal population is becoming a minority and need to be safeguarded.  

What are your expectations, does it look like the BJP-IPFT alliance will win?

This election is significant, not just for the state parties, but has also attracted the attention of the Centre. For the CPI (M), Tripura remains the only state where they have a formidable ground. On the other hand, the state level IPFT has a stronghold in the hill areas and has a major role to play. The people of Tripura across all age groups are now preparing to change from the rule of the CPI (M) to other political parties, owing to their prolonged governance since the last 24 years that led to the deprivation of the people, particularly of those not in line of the CPI (M). Development facilities and other Centrally-sponsored schemes have not reached to people. The latest scenario is that the mood of the electors is polarised to a great extent towards the BJP-IPFT alliance. CPI (M) and their partners like the CPI, the Forward Block and RSP, will have a limited role to play.