Tipra Motha Party, an ally of the ruling BJP in Tripura, is set to mount pressure on the Centre by staging a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Tuesday, pressing for a slew of unresolved demands, including constitutional recognition of what it calls Greater Tipraland.
Party chief Pradyot Debbarma, the royal scion of Tripura, will lead the protest alongside state ministers, MLAs, and representatives of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC). The demonstration comes more than a year after the signing of the Tiprasa Accord with the Centre and the state government, in March 2024, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Tipra Motha leaders allege that the assurances given in that agreement remain unfulfilled.
“The promises made in the agreement by the government are yet to be fulfilled, even as more than a year has passed,” said Lama Debbarma, the party’s media coordinator, while confirming details of the protest.
The party’s demands include swift implementation of the Tiprasa Accord, deportation of illegal immigrants from Tripura, and constitutional recognition of Greater Tipraland, a long-standing call for safeguarding the rights, identity, and land of indigenous Tripuris.
Also read: TIPRA Motha seeks SIR in Tripura, flags illegal influx
The concept of Tipraland, and later Greater Tipraland, has been a defining rallying cry for tribal politics in Tripura for over a decade. The demand originally gained prominence in 2009 when tribal organisations pressed for a separate state carved out of Tripura’s tribal-dominated areas. Pradyot Debbarma, who revived the call in recent years, reframed it as Greater Tipraland, extending the demand beyond statehood to include cultural and political recognition for Tripuris living outside the state as well.
Despite remaining a part of the BJP-led government in Tripura, Tipra Motha has continued to air its dissatisfaction over the Centre’s handling of tribal concerns. The leadership insists that its alliance with the BJP does not dilute its commitment to indigenous rights.
Adding a symbolic edge to the Delhi protest will be the presence of party leader David Murasingh, who undertook a 2,500-km march on foot from Agartala to Delhi. His march, completed earlier this year, was aimed at drawing national attention to unchecked infiltration in Tripura.
With the Durga Puja season approaching and politics in Tripura heating up ahead of local body polls, the Tipra Motha demonstration in Delhi could pose fresh challenges for the BJP in the state.
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