Tripura Cong leader accuses Pradyot of politicising Bru issue, royal scion strikes back

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AGARTALA | Jan 21:

Senior Congress leader and Vice-President of Tripura Pradesh congress Committee (TPCC), Subal Bhowmick while addressing a mass gathering of Congress party at Agartala accused the Former TPCC President and the Royal Scion of Tripura, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma of politicising the Bru issue to settle his personal goals.

Bhowmick also accused Debbarma of striking a secret deal with the state government and at Delhi to get back Debbarma's ancestral properties.

"We are forced to say that people even after being the member of the Royal Family does not know the history of the Royal family and states that Reang refugees fled to Mizoram due to Dumbur project. The statement that the Reang families were forced to leave Tripura due to Dumbur project is completely void." Said Subal Bhowmick.

Subal Bhowmik added that it is important to know the history behind the Reang protest in the state which forced these families to escape and take shelter in Mizoram. He alleged that the Reang families were forced to move due to mistreatment and torture by the Royal family.

He further said that, "we all remember who forced Ratan Reang to leave Tripura."

He said that Tripura's vernacular language was bengali. Furthermore, he claimed that even the King of Tripura gave replies to the British government's letters in bengali.

He allegedly said that the royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma is a fraud and that he knows nothing regarding the history of the state and the Royal Family. He also alleged that Pradyot Debbarma is secretly seeking help from Prime Minister Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to release his royal properties. He also said that the royal scion neither knows Kokborok nor Bengali thus has no connection with the state of Tripura.

Reacting strongly to Bhowmick's allegations, Tripura royal scion sarcastically said "In a jungle, there are 500 monkeys and one tiger and one of the monkeys is Subal Bhowmick. I don't demand apologies from monkeys; monkeys are supposed to be monkeys."

Furthermore, Pradyot has asked the Congress to clarify on whether Bhowmick's remarks are the party's official position or his personal stance. "I don't want to react to people who are accused of Rose Valley Chit fund scam," he added.

Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah on Thursday last presided over the signing of an agreement between Government of India, Governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives in New Delhi today, to end the 23-year old Bru-Reang refugee crisis.

According to the new arrangement, each of the displaced families would be given 40×30 sq.ft. residential plots, in addition to the aid under earlier agreement of a fixed deposit of Rs. 4 lakhs, Rs. 5,000 cash aid per month for 2 years, free ration for 2 years and Rs. 1.5 lakhs aid to build their house. The government of Tripura would provide the land under this agreement.

Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma has been the flag bearer for the rights of Bru people for years. He was among those who had a strict viewpoint that the Bru refugees must be given land in Tripura not in Mizoram and that the government must consider the plea of the Bru people on humanitarian grounds.

After the land mark agreements signed last Thursday, many social organisations across Tripura fighting for the rights of Bru refugees has on record thanked the Royal Scion for his tireless efforts towards the cause of the Bru refugees.