Agartala:The Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), the ruling BJP’s junior ally, which has resumed its stir against the CAA and other issues after around a month, continued its sit-in-demonstrations for the fourth day on Thursday.
Braving chilly weather, several hundred activists, including women, led by the leaders of the IPFT, which has eight MLAs and two ministers in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government, continued their sit-in demonstration in Khumulwng, the headquarters of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).
“Hundreds of tribals, including women and youth from across Tripura took part in the indefinite sit-in protest in Khumulwng (25 km north of Agartala). Our top leaders, including party President Narendra Chandra Debbarma and General Secretary Mevar Kumar Jamatia, led the sit-in-demonstration,” IPFT Assistant General Secretary and party spokesman Mangal Debbarma said.
Debbarma is the Revenue and Fisheries Minister, while Jamatia is the Minister for the Tribal Welfare and Forest Departments.
The IPFT has been demanding creation of a separate state for tribals and inclusion of the tribal language “Kokborok” in the 8th schedule of the constitution. The IPFT has been agitating since 2009 for creation of a separate state by upgrading the TTAADC, which has jurisdiction over two-thirds of Tripura’s 10,491 sq km area which is home to over 12,16,000 people, 90 per cent of whom are tribals. (IANS)
