The Indigenous Peoples of Tripura state are
facing progressive minoritisation in their own native state, land dispossession
, political disempowerment in the last half a century or , so due to largely to
swamping of the native and local peoples by illegal aliens hailing from
Bangladesh , the neighbourhood of India. As a result of Tripura merged with
Indian Union , the Tripuri / Borok native have reduced from majority to helpless
minority. The dispossessed and disempowered, Tripuri/Borok native s has lost
their national future. This Tripuri Syndrome is gradually turning the other
North Eastern States into Tripuri political, economic and cultural clone .
The constitutional political process
compounded by the international standard setting has to be engaged in
countervailing the Tripuri syndrome that made the entire N.E region restive
and disturbed.
Social scientists would no longer deny that
behind the restive region North East especially in Tripura ,lies on historical
experience , native socio-economic and political structures, instruments that
qualified the indigenous Tripuris of this region as distinctive people and also
the fact that the Borok/Tripuri people face a reversal of the
structur,instruments, that result to dispossession, deprivation , disempowerment
and denial in wider sense of the term. Publication after publication, and
analyasis after analysis have endorsed this position . That the Indigenous
Tripuri/Borok people are in peril is not a subject of disputation and contest,
open borders counter-productive regional wars , eventual massive immigration
,new economic opportunities ,failure of successive governments and displacement
of sorts have yielded to the present state of affairs.
Indigenous Tripuri/Borok community , people and
nation are those which having a historical continuity with pre-invation and
pre-colonial soceity that developed on their territories, consider themselves
distinct from other sectors of the soceities now prevailing in those territories
, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of soceity and
determined to preserve, develop and tranmit to future generations their
ancentral territories , and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their
continued existence a peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns ,
social institutions and legal systems.
* Mr Sanjoy Hazarika, eminent journalist and
writer, wrotes that 93 % of 6 lakhs Tripura population was Tripuri / Borok in
1947. It has been reduced to 28.5% in 1981
* It may be added that , Prof. B K Roy Burman
would like to maintain that Tripuris constituted 80% in 1931 . but taking the
muslim population and Tripuri cogrates ,it was about 90 % or more.
* Prof. Amalendu Guha raised the issue of
Palestinian displacement in their homeland and the Prof. mention that by U N
Security Council Resolution Nos 242 & 338 , Israel has to vacate Palestine which
bears Tripuri syndrome.
Constitution of India has provisions for
SC.ST, 5th and 6th schedules,
protection of micro- nationalities, in Article 371 domains and reservation of
seats in the Union and state legislatures.Unlike the federations like the USA,
former Soviet Union , India has not provided scheme for dual citizenship.
Constitution is yet to provide for dual citizenship to match with federal
parameters. The Union government of India has conceded two special provisions
for vulnerable state like Jammu & Kashmir. Firstly article 3 of the Constitution
provides that the territorial boundary of J&K can be altered without the concent
of the J & K legislature. Secondly by Jammu and Kashmir Order (JKO) 1954
article 35 A , the J & K permanent residents are fully protected against the
impact of the illegal alien migrants and non- local Indians.
Right to settlement in any parts of the
territory of India has been qualified by the Article 35A and at the same time,
no one who is not permanent resident of J & K has the constitutional rights to
acquire or hold property or to get job in J & K . The government of India had
the obligation to enact laws comparable to Article 35 A for Tripura in 1950.
Within the ambit of Indian constitutional
system, both the aliens and Indian citizens are not given access to the J& K
facilities under article 35 A. The same normative regime should have been given
in 1950 to Tripura, which was much vulnerable as J & K. In that event Tripuri
syndrome would not have occurred at all and Tripuri would not have suffer as a
result of Indian annexation of their native state. Tripuri people responds
with various political expressions including protests, movements and
legitimate national liberation movements for exercising the Peoples' Rights of
Self-Determination under laws. The Union government and delegates are out and
out accountable for materialising the Tripuri syndrome in the region. The state
and Union government of India has all along been responsible for annexation of
Tripura and facilitating progressive extinction of Tripuri and making North East
a bastion of Tripuri syndrome
Tripura is the worse sufferer of divided India.
Her increase of population during the last 90 years is 1600 times highest growth
rate in the world history. In 1901 we had 1,73,325 population . In 1991 it has
become 27,57,205.
When we joined with India on 15th
Oct.1949 we had hardly five and half lakhs population with Indigenous Tripuris/
Borok People majority. After joining with Indian Union the increase of
population of Tripura during 41 years i.e 1950 to 1991 is 550 times . This is
not normal growth of population but because of unprecedented influx and of
refugees from the then East Pakistan and continuous illegal infiltration of
foreign nationals till the date. Decade-wise population of Tripura during the
last 90 years are as below :
Year of Census |
Total Population |
Growth Rate (Over All %) |
Tribal Population |
Growth Rate of ST(%) |
1901 |
1,73,325 |
- |
Un Known |
- |
1911 |
2,29,631 |
32.5 |
Un Known |
- |
1921 |
3,04,437 |
32.6 |
Un Known |
- |
1931 |
3,82,450 |
25.6 |
Un Known |
- |
1941 |
5,13,010 |
34.1 |
Un Known |
- |
1951 |
6,39,029 |
24.6 |
2,37,953 |
36.85 |
1961 |
11,42,005 |
78.7 |
3,60,070 |
31.53 |
1971 |
15,56,342 |
36.3 |
4,50,544 |
25 |
1981 |
20,53,342 |
31.9 |
5,83,920 |
30 |
1991 |
27,57,205 |
34.3 |
8,53,345 |
46 |
One will wonder from the above given statistic
that how 51% increase of tribal population took place during 1951-61 unless
influx of tribal refugees took shelter in Tripura? The basic fact is that till
1955, Tripura had no SCHEDULED TRIBE LIST in accordance with the Article 342
of the Constitution of India. The Scheduled Tribe List for Tripura was
finalized and published in 1956. Prior to Independence only five communities
namely, Puran , Tipra, Noatian, Jamatia, Reang, and the Halam were
treated as the Hill Tribes of Tripura and a special provision containing rights
on lands for the above mentioned communities has been proclaimed by the then
Maharaja Late Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya bahadur on 20th Bhadra,
1341 T.E (1931 AD) vide Memo No.49 in an area of 110sq. miles under Kalyanpur
Revenue Circle and extedded to additional 1950 sq. miles all over Tripura on 1st
Aswin, 1341 vide Memo no. 325. Till annexation with India the Hill Tribes List
remained unchanged. It means, the Scheduled Tribes List of 1951 census was
enumeration of the above mention 5 Tribes excluding other 14 communities
included in 1956 list. Thus the theory of 36.85%Scheduled Tribe population in
1951 census was incomplete and biased. Had all the 19 tribes incorporated in
1956 been taken into account in the 1951 Census, tribal percentage might have
been more than 80 percent, including Monipuri who are Mongalian tribal nature
.Besides this , nearly 20, 000 Agartala resident tribals families who were know
as the Thakurs and Kartas mostly relatives of the Rayal families denied to be
enlisted as the Scheduled Tribes during the considering their supremacy of
status as has been directed by the Brahminns They have been told by Shukreswar
and Baneswar of South Indian Brahmins who translated Kokborok Rajmala into
Bengali that Tripura Kindom was established by Prince Druhjya , son of Yayati an
Aryan King of Northern Indian during Veda period So, the relatives of the King
are Aryans not tribal. Thus about 20,000 Thakurs and Kartas of Agartala were
excluded from the Hill Tribes list in 1951 census. It comprises 20% of ST
population in 1951. Had they been included , as it is now , the St percentage of
1951 would have been 80 to 90 % or above it has been determined by Shri Nripen
Chakraborty , the ex- Chief Minister of Tripura
According to Late Kailash Chandra Singha,
eminent historian and writer of the Rajmala Ba Tripurar Itibrita , published in
1869 AD, Tripura is the oldest Kingdom of India. According to him , hundreds
years ago, a groups of SHAN dynasty of China who used to ruled PUWAN or PUMANG
kingdom in between northern Brahma and China invaded Kamrup and set up kingdom at
upper Assam. They used to used FA as surname or title . Donguifa was the first
King of that dynasty . In course of time, due to the continuous disturbance
from the local tribes man they were complete to shift their capital from
Shivsagar to Dwimapur / Twimapur/ Dimapur , now commercial capital of Nagaland