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Journalism of Courage
Tripura’s Opposition CPM said Tuesday that a section of people were trying to create communal disharmony over issues such as a demand to remove converted tribals from the Scheduled Tribes list and a controversy involving an ancient structure that he said was a mosque.
CPM state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said that a sanghati mela (mela of unity) had been held every year near the structure since 1993 and that people from all communities had participated in it, even after the BJP came to power.
But some organisations that he claimed to be backed by the ruling party have claimed the structure in Dimatoli Gram panchayat under South Tripura district’s Rajnagar block is a Jagannath temple. It was alleged that Muslims were recently not allowed to offer prayers there.
“Recently, Chief Minister Manik Saha went to the mela, where he was gifted a picture of the ancient mosque, which was then claimed to be a Jagannath temple. It was an attempt to ignite divisive fire. Perhaps, he did not notice it then. We want to request him to prevent this attempt by a section of people to break unity,” Chaudhury told reporters.
“I would also like to tell the police chief that this is a cognisable offence. You cannot prevent Muslims from offering prayers there. How come your police in uniform obstructed Muslims who wanted to offer prayers there. It is very much unfortunate,” he added.
The BJP has not responded to the CPM leader’s statement.
His comments came days after the Janajati Suraksha Mancha, a tribal Hindutva organisation, said it would go ahead with its plan to hold a rally on Christmas Day demanding that tribals who have converted to religions other than Hinduism be removed from the Scheduled Tribes list, despite protests from all the Opposition parties.
The CPM has opposed the demand and said the government should not give permission for the rally. Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman alleged a “deep-rooted conspiracy by communal forces” behind the demand to deny ST status to Christian converts.
The prime Opposition TIPRA Motha party has also opposed the move, saying there is no question of ST Christians enjoying the double benefits of being tribals and religious minorities in Tripura, as alleged by the Mancha. A state government notification issued in 2007 clearly stated that Buddhists and Christians, excluding those from the ST category, and Muslims and Sikhs would be considered minorities in the state, the party said.
Motha MLA and senior tribal leader Chittaranjan Debbarma said he felt there was a design afoot to create a rift between tribal communities in the state.
Tripura has a 37-lakh population (2011 census), out of which roughly 30 per cent are tribals from 19 recognised communities.
Chaudhury, the CPM state chief, also sought the chief minister’s intervention in the fraudulent activities of a non-banking financial company at Nimbark, on the outskirts of Agartala. He requested Saha to thoroughly investigate all NBFCs in the state to protect people from fraudsters.
