Centre signs pact to address Tripura's indigenous issues

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• Demand for Greater Tipraland
• What is Greater Tipraland?
• How did the demand originate?
• News Summary: Centre signs pact to address Tripura's indigenous issues
• Key highlights of the agreement

Why in news?

• A tripartite agreement between TIPRA Motha and the governments of Tripura and India was signed to bring a lasting solution to the problems of the state's indigenous people.
  • The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance is popularly known as Tipra Motha.
  • It is a regional political party in Tripura, led by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma.
  • The Tipra Motha’s demands include:
    • a Greater Tipraland;
    • more powers for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC);
    • Roman script to be declared as the official script for the indigenous Kokborok language.
    • Kokborok is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Tripuri people in Tripura and neighboring areas of Bangladesh.
• The pact seeks to resolve all issues faced by Tripura's indigenous people regarding history, land and political rights, economic development, identity, culture and language.
  • This pact is eleventh in the series of agreements signed in the current term of the govt to make North-East region free of insurgency, violence and disputes.

Demand for 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
  • 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 huge influx of refugees from East Pakistan. The flood of refugees led to bitter differences.
    • 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.
    • The conflict between the tribals and the non-tribals escalated in 1980 and took the shape of armed insurgency.
    • The demand for autonomous regions or separate statehood during this time metamorphosed to sovereignty and independence.
    • However, after a political truce was reached between the State and the rebel groups, the demand for statehood was revived.
• 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.

News Summary: Centre signs pact to address Tripura's indigenous issues

• A tripartite agreement aimed at making Tripura dispute-free by resolving all issues concerning its indigenous people, was co-signed by the Centre, Tripura govt and The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA).

Key highlights of the agreement

• Amicably resolve all issues of indigenous people of Tripura
  • It was agreed to amicably resolve all issues of indigenous people of Tripura relating to history, land and political rights, economic development, identity, culture and language.
• Joint working group
  • It was agreed to constitute a joint working group/ committee to work out and implement the mutually agreed points on all the above-mentioned issues in a time-bound manner to ensure an honourable solution.
• Ensure peace in the region by refraining from protests
  • All stakeholders shall refrain from resorting to any form of protest/ agitation, starting from the day of signing of the agreement.

Q1) What is Kokborok language?

Kokborok is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Borok people in Tripura, India and neighboring areas of Bangladesh. The term "kokborok" is made up of the words "kok" which means "verbal" and "borok" which means "people" or "human".

Q2) What is Article 2 of the Indian Constitution?

Article 2 of the Indian Constitution allows Parliament to establish or admit new states into the Union. The article also covers the terms and conditions for establishing new states, and the regulations for admitting new states into the union.

Source: Centre signs pact with Tripura govt, Tipra Motha for tribal rights | Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council | Times of India | Outlook India