Author: Sanjib Deb
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: April 12, 2001
The rivalry between the two outlawed
militant out fits has taken a turn for the worse with the All-Tripura Tiger
Force deciding to oppose the proselytisation of the tribal society to Christianity
by the National Liberation Front of Tripura. They also urged all sections
of people to prevent any such attempt.
In a statement issued on the eve
of the Garia Puja, the biggest religious festival of Hindu tribals in Tripura,
the ATTF president Mr Ranjit Debbarma said they will take stern action
against any attempt to disrupt the festival. The festival is scheduled
to begin from April 14 and continue for a week.
Clarifying their position on religious
issue the ATTF supremo said, "Everyone is free to practise the religion
of his choice." He also criticised the NLFT for interfering with the social
affairs of the tribals and forcibly converting people to Christianity.
He condemned the NLFT for killing Hindu religious leaders, including popular
saint Shanti Kumar Tripura and Vaishnava Mahants Tachhidas Reang and Sanjit
Reang, last year. Earlier the NLFT had issued a ban on participation of
tribals in any kind of Hindu festival including Garia Puja. It had provoked
widespread protest from the tribal society and the Jamatya hoda (Community
council), the highest body of the orthodox Hindu tribal Jamatya community,
launched air agitation.
The ATTF which was silent over the
issue all along appears to have issued the statement in a bid to carry
with the popular sentiment of the tribals. However, the police is worried
over the new development and is fearing a fresh bout of violence between
the two outfits who are already fighting each other over maintaining supremacy
in the tribal areas. Meanwhile, the Jamatya Hoda has also decided to defy
the NLFT's ban and celebrate the Garia Puja in the traditional way. The
governor Lt. Gen. (retired) Krisnamohan Seth will inaugurate the festival
in Bagma under the Udaipur subdivision of South Tripura district on April
14.
