In News: Recently, After seventeen months resigned as the Congress state president, Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya has recently announced his new political demand of ‘Greater Tipraland.
What is Greater Tipraland?
- ‘Greater Tipraland’ is essentially an extension of the ruling tribal partner Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura – IPFT’s demand of Tipraland, which sought a separate state for tribals of Tripura.
- New demand seeks to include every tribal person living in indigenous area or village outside the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) under the proposed model.
- Idea doesn’t restrict to simply the Tripura tribal council areas, but seeks to include ‘Tiprasa’ of Tripuris spread across different states of India like Assam, Mizoram etc. as well, even those living in Bandarban, Chittagong, Khagrachari and other bordering areas of neighbouring Bangladesh.
- Demand for ‘Greater Tipraland’ seeks to re-draw territorial boundary lines of Tripura or the proposed state including parts of Assam, Mizoram and Bangladesh, where Tripuris were claimed to live, the royal scion didn’t specify the issue but answered if successful, Greater Tipraland would ‘help’ Tripuris in need of assistance in those areas.
- Demand would be placed before the central government for dialogue if all indigenous tribal leaders of Tripura including himself are invited for talks.
- Call of Greater Tipraland’ rose due to unfulfilled demands of revising NRC in Tripura and opposition to CAA in the past.
What are ‘Tipraland’ and ‘Greater Tipraland’?
- Tipraland: Demand of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), which is now in power in Tripura in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. It was a political call for the creation of a separate state for indigenous groups.
- Greater Tipraland: Demands that every indigenous area or village which is today outside the TTAADC be included.
Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT)
- The Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) is a regional political party in Tripura, India.
- It is a member of the North-East Democratic Alliance and North-East Regional Political Front, a group of political parties of the northeast that supports the National Democratic Alliance (India).
- The party existed from 1997 to 2001 until it was merged into the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT), and reformed in 2009.
- The party is allied with BJP in the 2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election and won 8 seats out of 9 contested seats.