BJP backs Tripura CM's statement on origin of Bru people, ally Tipra Motha differs

Agartala, Oct 16 (PTI) The ruling BJP of Tripura on Thursday supported Chief Minister 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 (TMP) claimed that going by that logic, 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 Sabha “inadvertently” made a mistake about the community’s origin as, it claimed, they are "the aboriginal sons of the soil of Tripura".

Requesting the CM to issue a corrigendum, the Bru People Organisation (BPO) said that 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 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 in the same heritage, culture, and bloodline that define the great Kingdom of Tripura,” BPO President S K Msha said in a statement.

At a press conference on Thursday, the BJP's Tripura vice president Bimal Kanti Chakma and general secretary Bipin Debbarma said what Saha had said about the origin of the Brus was based on history, and condemned the TMP'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 is unfortunate," Chakma said.

Accusing the TMP of trying to defame the chief minister, Debbarma said the party had staged protest rally raising slogans like "go back CM", for making the statement on Bru people's origin.

"These are unconstitutional words. A chief minister doesn't belong to any particular community - tribal or non-tribal. We believe in Sabka Saath Sabka Vikash," he said.

The TMP, a tribal based outfit that used to be the main opposition party of Tripura, joined the BJP-led government ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

The TMP's 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 Saha’s origin.

Chakma added, "We had witnessed bloodshed during the 1980s ethnic strife in the state. Are they (TMP) trying to create the same now? We fully back the chief minister's statement." Bipin Debbarma also sharply reacted to TMP supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma's threat of not to allow 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 TMP 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 TMP has 13 MLAs in the 60-member assembly and two ministers.

Pradyot Debbarma had also said that the people will not allow any national party to enter TTAADC, alleging that they do not think of the tribal people.

The election in TTAADC is due next year. PTI PS NN