Debbarma, who is also an MLA from the Ramchandraghat assembly constituency, said that in the ATTF peace agreement, signed in the year 1993, the state government and the armed group arrived at a consensus that whoever infiltrated into the territory of Tripura illegally after March 25, 1971, would be identified and subsequently pushed back to Bangladesh.
“If the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 is implemented in Tripura, the ATTF agreement stands null and void. As per the new citizenship rules, the new cut-off for citizenship is 2014. In Assam, the commitments made in the AGP agreement are still being protected and hence CAA is not applicable there. The Assam government has also conducted the NRC exercise to make sure that the illegal infiltrators could be identified. We have a simple demand that considering all these factors, CAA should not be implemented here,” said Debbarma.
A team of surrendered militants led by Debbarma earlier met the Governor of Tripura Indrasena Reddy Nallu at Raj Bhavan and handed over a detailed memorandum explaining the historical background of the peace accords signed with different banned outfits.
“People who have surrendered from different armed groups floated an organization called Tripura United Indigenous People’s Council (TUIPC). When we met the governor of Tripura, we raised multiple issues that the surrendered militants have been facing barring the issue of CAA,” he added.
According to the Tipra Motha Party MLA, the inner line permit was one of the key aspects of the peace accords that had never been implemented in Tripura.
“In Manipur, the inner line permit system exists, but here it was never introduced. Moreover, members of militant groups who surrendered before other central government agencies such as CRPF, Assam Rifles and BSF were not recognized by the Special Branch of Tripura Police which is why they were deprived of the benefits and schemes of the state government which were formulated to rehabilitate the militants involved in the insurgent movement,” said Debbarma.
The insurgency in Tripura continued for more than two decades. Terror groups like NLFT and ATTF were considered to be the most dreaded organizations. (ANI)