IPFT calls 12-hr strike to protest against CAB on Monday, demands separate state

The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) announced that it will observe a 12-hour strike on Monday in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill and to highlight other demands, including a separate state of 'Tipraland'.

Making the announcement here, IPFT spokesman Mangal Debbarma said that the party held a seven-hour long demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on December 2 to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill and also to press for its demand for a separate state for the indigenous tribals, who constitute one-third of Tripura's 37 lakh population.

He said that a delegation of IPFT, led by party General Secretary and Tripura Forest and Tribal Welfare Minister Mevar Kumar Jamatia, met Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and submitted a memorandum highlighting its demands and also submitted a similar memorandum to the offices of the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Tribal Affairs Minister and DoNER (Development of North Eastern Region) Minister.

Debbarma also demanded a permanent settlement of the Mizoram Reang (Bru) displaced people in Tripura since the issue has been lingering on for quite some time.

IPFT, the junior ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tripura, has been agitating since 2009 for the creation of a separate state for the indigenous tribals by upgrading the TTAADC.