Disturbed Areas Act In West Tripura

The Tripura government yesterday promulgated the Disturbed Areas Act in parts of West Tripura district following a renewed attack by tribal militants on Bengali settlements in which at least 15 people were killed and 150 houses set ablaze. The incident, which occurred late on Saturday night, was the fourth major attack by tribal insurgents in the area during the last 10 days. The total toll so far has been 37.

The Disturbed Areas Act provides the security forces with sweeping powers to carry out counter-insurgency operations. The army, police and para-military forces have already launched a coordinated counter-insurgency offensive since February 1. However, Tripura home minister Samar Chowdhury has ruled out the possibility of a unified command structure with the army heading the operations as in Assam. The minister said the state-level security coordination committee headed by the chief secretary has been able to work out effective coordination amongst the security forces.

 

A grim chief secretary, V Tulsidas, said the Act had been imposed on the areas coming under the Khowai, Kalyanpur, Teliamura, Jirania, Sidhai and Takarjola police stations. The police had already fired at several places to disperse mobs, he said, adding that additional forces had been despatched to the area to control the situation.

The army yesterday staged a flag march in the curfew-bound Khowai sub-division, even as senior officials rushed to the area to supervise operations. Thirty-five persons were arrested following a massive combing operation by security forces throughout the sub-division.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has stepped up its demand for dismissal of the Left Front government, headed by Chief Minister Dasarath Deb. Accusing the state government of complete failure to check the deteriorating law and order situation, Congress leaders demanded immediate imposition of President's rule in the state. To add to the state government's woes, even the Union home minister, Indrajit Gupta, described the prevailing situation as abnormal during his visit to Tripura last week.

The situation is indeed grave with the selective attacks by tribal insurgents on Bengali settlements clearly indicating that they have launched an ethnic cleansing campaign.

On February 11, suspected All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) rebels attacked the Jarulbassi village 25 km west of Agartala and killed 17 people, including eight children. All of them were Bengalis.

The killings on Saturday are also suspected to have been carried out by the ATTF rebels.