Tripura: Ex-militants threaten 72-hour highway, rail blockade over rehabilitation package delay

AGARTALA: Hundreds of surrendered extremists belonging to the now-disbanded National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) on Monday threatened to launch a 72-hour blockade of highways and railway lines from June 12, protesting the alleged non-implementation of key provisions of a tripartite rehabilitation agreement signed with the Centre and the Tripura government.

Leaders of the surrendered militants, while announcing the proposed blockade, claimed that despite repeated assurances, the government has yet to fulfil several commitments made under the tripartite agreement signed on September 4, 2024, in New Delhi.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, senior political leaders, and officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Tripura government.

Under the agreement, NLFT and ATTF militants formally surrendered before Chief Minister Saha during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the 7th Battalion of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) at Jampuijala in Sepahijala district on September 24, 2024.

At the ceremony, cadres of the two insurgent outfits laid down a substantial cache of arms and ammunition and returned to the mainstream under the state's peace and rehabilitation process.

Former NLFT leader Prasanjit Debbarma said that around 1,200 former militants had surrendered before the Government of India and the Tripura government under various peace accords with the expectation of rehabilitation and socio-economic reintegration.

He alleged that several commitments made under the tripartite agreement remain unfulfilled despite repeated appeals and representations submitted to the authorities over the years.

Debbarma further claimed that although more than two years have passed since many former militants renounced violence and returned to normal life, only 79 cadres have so far been identified as beneficiaries of the rehabilitation package.

According to him, the Central government had announced a rehabilitation package worth Rs 250 crore, which included provisions for economic assistance, livelihood generation, welfare measures and other initiatives aimed at ensuring a secure and sustainable future for those who abandoned insurgency and joined the democratic mainstream. (IANS)

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