Agartala, Aug 14 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday said those who have come to the state from the erstwhile East Pakistan due to the Partition engineered by the British government in 1947 are not refugees but displaced people.
As a neighbouring region to East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, Tripura witnessed an unprecedented influx of people, primarily Bengali Hindus, which significantly altered its ethnic composition.
Addressing a programme to mark Partition Horror Remembrance Day here, the chief minister said both Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of India until Partition was carried out in 1947 against the will of the people.
“Areas like Comilla, Chakla Roshanabad and Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) which are in Bangladesh were part of the Kingdom of Tripura. The Partition had taken away these areas”, he said.
Saha said had the partition not been done, Hindu Bengalis who were facing severe challenges in the erstwhile East Pakistan would not have come to Tripura.
“Those who have come from erstwhile East Pakistan to Tripura leaving their properties and settled here because of the Partition are not refugees but should be treated as displaced people,” he said.
The problems of Tripura cannot be compared with those in other states such as Assam, the chief minister said, without elaborating.
Emphasising the need to sensitise the young generation about the partition’s long-sighted impact on India, Saha claimed that the BJP is the only party in the country committed to the country’s integrity and nationalism.
“Earlier, we used to celebrate Independence Day only on August 15 to pay tribute to the freedom fighters who made sacrifices in the country’s freedom struggle. Under Prime Minister Modi, we are observing Har Ghar Tiranga for a week to promote nationalism,” he said.
Accusing the opposition CPI(M) of creating problems everywhere, the CM said they were always trying to fish in troubled water to gain political mileage.
Referring to former chief minister Manik Sarkar’s alleged threat of launching a movement with a ‘militant mindset’, Saha said, without naming him, the Communist party has become restless for power.
At a rally on Monday, Sarkar had threatened that people would launch a movement with a “militant mindset” if the BJP-led government failed to address their grievances. PTI PS NN
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