BJP’s ally TMP observes 24-hour shutdown over eight demands in Tripura

AGARTALA: Normal life was affected in Tripura on Thursday after the ruling BJP’s ally, the Tipra Motha Party (TMP)-affiliated civil society, called a 24-hour shutdown in support of its eight-point demands, including the deportation of illegal migrants.

A senior police official said that to make the shutdown successful, picketers organized sit-in demonstrations at more than 52 key locations across the state and in two places along the railway tracks in West Tripura and Khowai districts.

“There is no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the state. The situation is quite under the control of the police and administration,” the official said, adding that large contingents of security forces, including the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), were deployed across the state.

Though attendance of employees and officers in most government offices and banks across Tripura was almost normal, private offices, shops, markets, and business establishments in many places remained closed. Movement of public vehicles on most highways, including National Highway-8, the surface lifeline of Tripura, came to a halt as bandh supporters blockaded roads at several points.

The Tiprasa Civil Society (TCS), led by TMP MLA Ranjit Debbarma, called the 24-hour shutdown on Thursday to highlight its eight-point charter of demands.

The demands include the immediate implementation of the Tiprasa Accord, identification and deportation of all illegal immigrants, setting up of detention camps in each district for illegal immigrants, holding of elections to the Village Committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), and introduction of the Inner Line Permit system to prevent infiltration.

Debbarma, who is also a senior TMP leader, said that several BJP-ruled states, including Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Delhi, have taken steps against illegal migrants, but the Tripura government has yet to act despite directives from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

“The BJP government holds elections in all urban and rural bodies, but is not holding the elections to the Village Committees under the TTAADC,” the tribal leader told the media.(IANS)

Also Read: West Agartala Police returns 30 recovered lost mobile phones