August 14, 2002

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

Tripura: On Hrangkhawl's Speech

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the speech made by Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl, the President of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), at a meeting in Geneva wherein he has supported the secessionist  aims of the extremist groups like the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF).  The entire speech made at the  Working Group of Indigenous Population expresses the  views of the secessionist groups  and terms  the non-tribal community in Tripura as foreigners.  The speech confirms the fact that the INPT  is nothing but the political front of NLFT, a banned organisation, which is responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent people. 

Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl is a member of the Tripura Legislative Assembly and by this speech in Geneva, he has not only violated the oath taken under the Constitution but openly sought to foment communal hatred.  He has sought to defend the killings and kidnapping by the terrorist gangs.    He cannot be immune to prosecution under the law.

The Congress party has entered into a political alliance with the INPT in view of the forthcoming assembly elections early next year.  The INPT and its President are  unashamed supporters of a banned extremist organisation which is causing immense harm to the people of Tripura and the unity of the country.  It is incumbent upon the national leadership of the Congress party to reconsider the decision to have an understanding with such a dubious organisation.