People's Democracy

THE CPI(M) has expressed strong opposition to the undemocratic, anti-constitutional bill abolishing the system of seat reservation for scheduled castes in the ADC village committees, equivalent to panchayats in other states, and demanded that the bill be scrapped. The bill was brought in by INPT, ruling party in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC), in keeping with the aim of the outlawed militant outfit, NLFT, whose political mask the INPT is.

This move to curtail one of the constitutional safeguards for the grassroots level democratic right of the scheduled caste inhabitants of ADC areas was ratified on February 26 through the passage of the ADC (Village Committee Formation) Amendment Bill 2001, on the opening day of the ADC budget session. The entire opposition, along with the independent as well as the state government nominated members, staged a walkout from the session, shouting slogans to vehemently protest the bill and demanding its abrogation.

The amendment bill was tabled by the ruling IPFT (now rechristened INPT) in the last ADC session itself. Then too, the opposition had tried to block the bill and walked out in protest against its motion without prior discussion in the block advisory committees. Strong opposition was again raised when the bill was tabled. But, in the face of the ruling party’s adamant attitude, the Left Front members in the opposition, independent and nominated members again staged a walkout.

In a statement, the CPI(M) state secretariat vehemently condemned the bill as out and out undemocratic, anti-constitutional, spiteful towards the scheduled castes section of the population, and detrimental to ethnic amity and integrity. Pressing for its abrogation, the CPI(M) urged all sections of the state’s democratic minded people to speak out in protest against it and mount pressure for its scrapping.

Significantly, on the other hand, the INPT’s extremely divisive mentality led its members to see red in the Left Front government’s newly introduced project for economic self-reliance of the young men and women of the Reang community, the most backward tribal community in Tripura.

During the discussion on a call attention motion about a news item that appeared in local newspapers on February 26 regarding the chief minister Manik Sarkar’s inauguration of a technical training project for Reang youth, the INPT members dubbed it as a "conspiracy" to undermine tribal unity.

ADC opposition leader Radhacharan Debbarma expressed, in his speech, deep amazement at the INPT’s opposition to development of the most backward tribal community in Tripura. He said that since coming to power at the ADC in May 2000, the IPFT (now rechristened) has not taken a single step towards the tribals’ development, and has also left no stone unturned to stall each and every tribal development programme the LF government has adopted. Debbarma vehemently condemned the INPT’s ill-motivated activities against ethnic harmony. He said that while the Left Front government has been working to strengthen ethnic harmony and prioritise the development of the backward tribals, INPT leaders have been instigating people on demands like creation of separate markets for tribals and separate motor stands for tribal drivers, posing grave threat to ethnic harmony.

It will be noted that the IPFT came to power in the ADC by falsifying the May 2000 ADC polls at the extremist gunpoint. Its only agenda since then has been has been to pursue separatist schemes at behest of the imperialist-aided outlawed extremist outfit NLFT. Now it plans to go in for long-pending elections to about 300 village committees in the ADC areas after putting into effect the fissiparous ADC (Village Committees Formation) Amendment Bill 2001. (INN)