Agartala: After nearly a decade, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a partner in Tripura’s ruling alliance, returned to the streets of Agartala on Saturday with a large-scale rally to reassert its core demand for a separate state under the Sixth Schedule.
The demonstration, organised on the occasion of ADC Day, witnessed an impressive turnout despite persistent rainfall.
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Since 2009, the party has been marking August 23 as “Tipraland Statehood Demand Day,” keeping alive its long-pursued agenda of carving out a new state for the tribal belt of Tripura.
Addressing the gathering, IPFT leader and cabinet minister Shukla Charan Noatia recalled the hurdles the party faced during earlier years of agitation.
“Back in 2016, when we organised a similar rally here in Agartala, our supporters were attacked by CPIM cadres. That party now sits in the opposition, while we continue our fight with the same determination,” he remarked.
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Noatia argued that the creation of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in 1984 had failed to deliver on the hopes of indigenous communities.
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“Seventeen years of struggle have passed, and the aspirations of our people are still unfulfilled,” he said.
And he added, “Our journey will not stop until the rightful demand of statehood is realised.”
The rally also drew support from outside the state.
S Sanyal, general secretary of the National Federation of New States, endorsed the demand, terming it “legitimate” and calling for greater national attention to the struggles of Tripura’s tribal population.
Paying homage to late NC Debbarma, IPFT’s founder and former minister, leaders and workers remembered his role in shaping the party’s political journey.
Party president Prem Kumar Reang reaffirmed the organisation would remain steadfast in its central demand.
The IPFT, which once enjoyed a strong presence in tribal politics and partnered with the BJP to secure power in the 2018 assembly elections, has in recent years lost significant ground to the Tipra Motha Party, which champions the demand for a “Greater Tipraland.”
The setback was evident in the 2023 assembly polls, where the IPFT secured just one seat—Jolaibari—marking its steepest decline since inception.
Yet, Saturday’s show of strength suggested the party’s determination to reclaim relevance by keeping alive the idea of a separate state for Tripura’s indigenous communities.