AGARTALA, August 19: Tipra Motha Party founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma has called for the fulfilment of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur’s vision of protecting the land rights of Tripura’s indigenous people.
Speaking on the Maharaja’s birth anniversary, Debbarma said people across the state were paying tribute to the former ruler but questioned whether his vision had been fulfilled.
Debbarma said Bir Bikram had introduced a law in 1940 to protect indigenous land in tribal areas by restricting its transfer to non-indigenous people. He said the legal framework governing land rights was subsequently changed after Independence through the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act.
He also noted that areas earlier reserved for tribal communities subsequently came under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Debbarma said land ownership was fundamental to the security and future of indigenous communities and alleged that people in Tripura continued to face limitations over land rights and the granting of pattas in Sixth Schedule areas.
He urged people to move beyond symbolic tributes and work towards securing land and constitutional rights for indigenous communities.
“If we truly want to respect Maharaja Bir Bikram, we must fulfil his dream—that not a single poor indigenous person should become landless,” Debbarma said.
