The members of Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), staged a naked protest in Champaknagar near Agartala demanding a separate state for tribal people in Tripura. The male members of the group staged the protest holding flags.
At present, Tripura has people from different ethnicities and identities including migrant Bangla speaking people who moved here after the liberation of Bangladesh. Besides, tribal people constitute one-third population of the state.
“Security was enhanced on the national highway and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) was engaged in patrolling to ensure peace and calm so that no untoward incident can take place during the proposed agitation,” SP, Police Control, Dilip Roy was quoted as saying by India.com.
The IPFT has demanded that a separate state is created for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas. It constitutes two-third of the state territory and is the home to the tribal that forms one-third of the populace.
The state government on Thursday had appealed to the IPFT to withdraw the protest as the people would suffer owing to the blockade on national highway.
The ruling CPI-M opposed the protest and said the request for the distinct state is “divisive and aimed at disrupting communal harmony and peace in the state.”
“The demand for separate state is improbable and it is not physically possible. The BJP opposes the demand,” said BJP Tripura unit president, Biplab Deb.
Notably, this is not the first time when they have staged the naked protest. They have protested in a similar way in April this year too.
