Tripura BJP backs CM Saha, hits out at TIPRA Motha over Bru remark row
Bru origin controversy intensifies in Tripura as BJP supported CM Manik Saha, slams TIPRA Motha’s ‘Bangladeshi CM’ remark
Chief Minister Manik Saha in Tripura Assembly (AT Image)
Agartala, Oct 17: The ruling BJP of Tripura on Thursday supported Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha’s recent statement on the origin of the Bru community people, asserting that his contention that they came from Chittagong in present-day Bangladesh was based on history.
Opposing that view, BJP ally TIPRA Motha Party claimed that going by that logic, Dr Saha becomes a “Bangladeshi CM” as his family had come from a land which is now Bangladesh.
An organisation of the Bru people on Tuesday said Dr Saha “inadvertently” made a mistake about the community’s origin as, it claimed, they are “the aboriginal sons of the soil of Tripura”.
Requesting the Chief Minister to issue a corrigendum, the Bru People Organisation (BPO) said before the partition of India, the ancient kingdom of Tripura, ruled by the Manikya dynasty, was spread over regions now in Bangladesh, Mizoram, Assam, and Manipur. The BPO said that the Bru soldiers had fought for those rulers.
“Hence, while some Tiprasa people (indigenous residents of Tripura) may today reside beyond India’s borders, the Bru (Reang) community has always remained firmly rooted within Indian soil, sharing the same heritage, culture, and bloodline that define the great kingdom of Tripura,” BPO president SK Msha said in a statement.
At a press conference on Thursday, Tripura BJP vice president Bimal Kanti Chakma and general secretary Bipin Debbarma said what Dr Saha had said about the origin of the Brus was based on history, and condemned the TIPRA Motha’s “offensive, abusive and unconstitutional” attack on the Chief Minister.
“It is true that Chittagong, Comilla and Brahmanbaria were part of the Manikya dynasty’s kingdom, but later they went to East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh). But the way, venom was spread against the Chief Minister by branding him ‘Bengali CM’ and ‘Bangladeshi CM’, which is unfortunate,” Chakma said.
Accusing the TIPRA Motha of trying to defame the Chief Minister, BJP general secretary Debbarma said the party had staged protest rally raising slogans like “Go back CM”, for making the statement on the Bru people’s origin.
“These are unconstitutional words. A Chief Minister does not belong to any particular community – tribal or non-tribal. We believe in Sabka Saath Sabka Vikash,” he said.
The TIPRA Motha, a tribal outfit that used to be the main Opposition party of Tripura, joined the BJP-led Government ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
TIPRA Motha Member of District Council (MDC) in TTAADC, Dolly Reang, recently led a rally at Amarpur in Gomati district, condemning the Chief Minister’s statement about the origin of the Brus.
In that rally, the party supporters raised ‘Go back CM’ slogans, indicating Dr Saha’s origin. Chakma added, “We had witnessed bloodshed during the 1980s ethnic strife in the State. Are they (TIPRA Motha) trying to create the same now? We fully back the Chief Minister’s statement.”
Debbarma also sharply reacted to TIPRA Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma’s threat of not allowing any national party in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).
“Every political party has the right to contest elections in tribal councils,” he said.
Pradyot Debbarma, who is a descendant of Tripura’s former royal family, formed the TIPRA Motha after resigning from the Congress in 2019. In the TTAADC election held in April 2021, it bagged 18 of the 28 seats that went to the polls. The TIPRA Motha has 13 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly and two ministers.
Pradyot Debbarma also said the people would not allow national parties to enter the TTAADC, alleging that they do not think of the tribal people. The elections to the TTAADC is due next year.
PTI