Demand for Greater Tipraland

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is Greater Tipraland?
• How did the demand originate?

 

Why in news?

• The newest political party in Tripura, the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) Motha, has created a flutter with its demand for Greater Tipraland.
  • The party was floated in 2019 by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma – the son of Tripura’s last king.

 

What is Greater Tipraland?

• Greater Tipraland is the core ideological demand of the TIPRA Motha. 
• The objective is to carve out a new State for the 19 indigenous tribes of Tripura under Articles 2 and 3 of the constitution.
  • Article 2 - Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit.
  • Article 3 comes into play in the case of formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States by the Parliament.
• Regional extent of the proposed State

 

Image Caption: TIPRA Land inside Tripura

• The 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.
• However, the idea doesn’t restrict to simply the Tripura tribal council areas. 
  • It extends to include ‘Tiprasa’ of Tripuris spread across different states of India like Assam, Mizoram etc. 
  • It also includes those living in Bandarban, Chittagong, Khagrachari and other bordering areas of neighbouring Bangladesh.

 

How did the demand originate?

• Apprehension of the indigenous communities
  • The demand mainly stems from the anxiety of the indigenous communities in connection with the change in the demographics of the state, which has reduced them to a minority.
  • It happened due to the displacement of Bengalis from the erstwhile East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971.
  • From 63.77 per cent in 1881, the population of the tribals in Tripura was down to 31.80 per cent by 2011.
  • The indigenous people have not only been reduced to a minority, but have also been dislodged from land reserved for them
• Ethnic conflict and insurgency
  • Later, ethnic conflict and insurgency gripped the state, which shares a nearly 860-km long boundary with Bangladesh.
• Rise of Ethnic-Politics
  • There has been a revival of ethnic nationalism in Tripura by the newly formed political party. 
  • It is trying to unite people from both tribal and non-tribal behind ethnic identity since 2019.
  • This party claims that a separate state could alone alleviate problems faced by Tripuri tribes.
• Alleged discrimination faced by Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC)
  • The TTADC receives two percent of the State budget while it has 40% of the State’s population.
    • TTADC was formed under the sixth schedule of the Constitution in 1985. 
    • Its aim is to ensure development and secure the rights and cultural heritage of the tribal communities.
    • It has legislative and executive powers and covers nearly two-third of the state’s geographical area.
  • It also highlights the unfulfilled demands of revising National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Tripura.

 

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Q1) Who was the last king of Tripura?

 The last ruler of the princely state of Tripura was Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur Debbarma who reigned from 1947 to 1949 Agartala after whom the kingdom was merged with India on 9 September 1949, and the administration was taken over on 15 October 1949.

 

Q2) Who is the first king of Tripura?

 Raja Ratna Manikya (1325 – 1350) was considered to be the first king of Tripura who brought a considerable reform in the administration as well as in the indigenous police system in the line of Muslim administrative system of Bengal during his regime.

 

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Source: Explained | The demand for a Greater Tipraland by the TIPRA Motha  |  Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council  |  Indian Express