 Hello and welcome to NewsClick. The past week saw massive, brutal political violence in the state of Tripura. The main targets were the opposition CPIM and the offices of the CPIM including the State Committee building in Agartala were attacked, there were incidents of vandalism and it was not only the political opposition, it was also the media. Now the attackers are believed to be associated with the ruling Bharati Janata Party. What is happening in Tripura and why is it happening? To talk more about this, we have with us Jitinder Chaudhary, the former MP from Tripura East and the Central Committee member of the CPIM. Thank you so much for joining us. So we have seen a lot of media reports of what happened over the past week. Like I said, there have been incidents of arson, bikes being burned, political cadre being attacked, a lot of very aggressive rhetoric that has been recorded in various videos. So media reports have pointed and portrayed this as some kind of spontaneous violence and a response. But is that the case or is it something deeper? Actually, this is not an isolated thing. I would say this is a new variant of the attack. This onslaught upon the democratic right, the hotels civil debt etc. in the state of Tripura, it has started from the day one of the BJP and its early IPFT God majority in last election. Because they know on the basis of the which promises they have given to the people before the last assembly election, they will never fulfill it. Because those all promises which have been orchestrated in their bishanda common, it is against the policy of the BJP government as a whole at the center and in different states. So for isolated for Tripura, it will not be implemented there. So from day one, there the hotels are art of governance is by creating the fear, psychosis, terrorization. They will keep the people mum silent, then they do not raise their voices. But during last three and half years, not only the lapped or opposition or innocent people, even within the house of the BJP, those who have put them to power, those who are very much instrumental for their that is gaining this power etc., they are also revolting. There has been lot of internal feud within the council of ministers itself, within the party itself, among the youth, among the women, among their other frontal organizations. So they are searching for a plea by which they can start their new variant of attack. So on 6th of September, Manik Sarkar, the former chief minister, now the present opposition leader of the state of Tripura, happened in Dhonpur under Sonamra subdivision of the Sipaizala district. It is his assembly constituency form from where he was elected, being elected from there for last six times. Last three and half years all the time, when he have attempted to go there, not only there in other places also, he was prevented by the BJP people in different way, in visiting the people, his constituency other and very particularly in his constituency Dhonpur. But our party took the permission, obtained the permission from the administration to that is organize a mass deposition there. So when he started first, the Tripura police, they prevented him from entering his constituency. Sorry, you please do not move further, BJP people are resorting to some kind of the program. What is the program there? They were, that is burning tire, chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Jai Sriram, Manik Sarkar, Govag, etcetera, etcetera. But then the Manik Sarkar, because three and half years he is not visiting his constituency, people also want him and there are only handful people. In other hand, there are couple of thousands of CPM supporters, they are peacefully marching by defying the obstruction come from the police and this handful people of the BJP peacefully they reached to Dhonpur, submitted the memorandum to the block development officer, held a meeting and come back. But from that evening itself, BJP started there all this pre-plan, this new height of attack. First one minister, his name is Sushant Choudhury and very unfortunately that gentleman, young guy just 48 hours ago he took the oath as a minister. I think he has been made scapegoat by the chief minister and from the press conference itself, he declared that what Manik Sarkar has done, what Manik Sarkar has done nothing, he has just while that is pursuing his democratic right, he went there, inch by inch it will be retaliated, from there he instigated to their cadres. And next day on 7th, one meeting has been organized by BJP's Yuba Murcia, they are one of the leaders, he also delivered their very fiery speech and very unfortunately in that same meeting, the union minister of state elected from Tripura, one lady minister, he was also present there and in that meeting itself, that Yuba Murcia leader, he instigating their supporters, from this meeting itself, after this meeting is over, you youth take the responsibility, wherever you get the CPM supporters, you assault them, you break their heads, break their legs, break their hands, whatever you can do, so while one minister, one leader and in presence of one MP and union minister, this kind of thing happened, so what can be happened, you can imagine and from that evening itself, this large scale brutality that has started, arson in the dwelling houses, vandalizing, ransacking the shops, other properties, from 7 nights alternately, simultaneously in 5 districts. Next day on 8th September, there was a program at Udaipur, the district headquarter of Gomoti district, our youth organizations, Democratic Youth Federation of India and Tribal Youth Federation took care that they are having one program, it was the declared program well in advance and few hundred people assembled there, so they are also again with same manner, the police people came to our people, you can't hold this program today, you have given us the permission, this is not that suddenly any chosen program and police came, they surrounded our district party office there, anyway our youth, they have not, how to say, that is reacted to their provocation, they kept quiet, but under the leadership of one minister from the district, they gathered some hundred of youth, all with lathal weapons, even carrying revolver, it has been seen and their scores of senior police officers were present, scores of the state and central paramilitary forces are present, if BJP government, they would have been, administration would have been really impartial, discharging their constitutional responsibility, both the parties, very particularly the BJP who has come to, that is create this trouble, they could have been dispersed, yes the CPM people, they stopped organizing their program okay, they have already suspended their program, they could have been dispersed, but large scale violence started from there, in presence of the police, pelting, that is the bricks, stones, etc. on the party offices, there number of people got injured and simultaneously on that day, without any provocation, there at Bishalgarh, it is in between the Agartala and Udiput town, there they had quarter of Sipaizala, CPM district office, it was at the known time, after known, normally that time the office remain, that is there is no people comes, only evening people comes again, so these people they came with bulldozer, first they have demolished the boundary wall, then entered into the office and with all these petroleum, the other thing, the burnt ashes and astonishingly, the police stations only in three minutes distance, then the sub-division police officers, office also within two minutes distance, as DMs office, block office and one BSA headquarters, if the administration and police would have had the intention to stop all this thing, this vandalism, they could have easily stopped it, they demolished the boundary wall, guarded the party office, then after one hour only the firefighters allowed to come here and extinguish the fire, that way the houses of our party people nearby and the office was totally destroyed and simultaneously on that day from BZP headquarters under the leadership of that same minister who spoke on the day one to take the events against Manik Sarkar and his program on 6th, he was behind as reported, one procession they have started from there and they came with all lateral weapons, first they attacked the CPIM waste district headquarters and they are also because most probably state police, the intelligence, they had some information, so our people found, not our people, all people have seen it, the small city of Airtala, that from half an hour before their position started, there were more than one platoon of people are there and state police officers are there, so if they would have the intention to stop them to check this vandalism they could have done and from that district party office, the distance of our state party office is another 100 years and from there they went to the party state office, vandalized the party state office, set on fire, set fire there, vehicles, two wheelers and other properties and just nearby that is Delhi office is there, it was also vandalized, then from there they have come to another newspaper office, it is Pratibadi column and PB24, this cable TV that also ransacked and are sound like anything and that day on 8 in 5 districts, more than 50 CPIM offices and more than 70 houses of the CPIM supporters and others, leaders and sympathizers, it was vandalized, ransacked, looted and arson and scores of people, they were physically assaulted, even the aged women, octogenarian children, they are not spared, so why it has happened, they are on six, that program at Dhanpur in Manik circus constituency, okay, even if they have not liked it, there could have been some incident there, there could have been some altercation or something, but why this is, this is very politically and in well planned manner, BJP and BJP not only the state BJP, even the central BJP because central BJP last couple of months, dozens of leaders are visiting Tripura state to mitigate the internal feud among the BJP leaders, BJP ministers and others there and they were not in a position to, that is keep them quiet, rather it was further intensifying, yeah intensifying it, so that's why to divert the people's attention, so they were needing this kind of thing, this is one, second is the CPIM and lab parties together, of course another leadership CPIM, despite of all these onslaughts during last three and a half years, CPIM they were resorting to the democratic movement in all local state and national issues, even their hotels every day in day out, they are they are they are bleeding, they are not allowed to discharge their normal democratic rights etc, but the democratic movement of the CPIM and its mass organizations, yeah it was not confined, rather it is further and further it is reaching out to the people, so that's why they are very very much afraid that this has to be stopped and somehow it has to be diverted and CPIM should be confined between the terror and how to keep them protected to divert the people's attention from this, that is what I'll say non-performance of the government, so this is the larger political intention behind this kind of the terrorization. Absolutely, I'll come to some of the issues the left has been raising, but before that just quickly wanted to ask you that in the aftermath of these incidents, what has been the response of the government, have they you know shown any sign of accountability or any sign of trying to crack down on the protesters? No, not a single culprit has been arrested, booked under law. If you go by the hotels news report, media report also, that all these incidents 80 percent of incident took place in broad daylight, residual 20 percent in that is night time or midnight, so and more astonishingly, in all these cases of gruesome attack, mob, etc., police were there behind them, so why police comes? If they are not refraining them, police comes that the goons are not resisted by the opposition or the people. So, even the people who are this subjected of this attack, they are loosing the affair, etc., not a single affair is taken for cognizance, not a single arrested, not only in this last one week, even from the day one, not a single culprit still today has been booked. So, this is the thing happening in Tripura. I would say, of course, Tripura is an, hotels say province of the Indian Union, but the Indian constitution is absent there under the busy period. And to come back to the point about some of the issues the left has been raising, could you maybe also take us through what are the key failures of the government the left has been pointing out and what are the demands that the left has been raising through its mass movements. Number one is that, BGP was voted to power by the people because of their vision document. In that vision document, they have given 299 assurances and that assurances to the youth, to the peasantry, to the workers, to the agriculture workers, to the omen, to the government employees and for overall development of the state. So, our number one slogan is that, the one is that you implement your promises because these promises has brought you to the power. Number one, number two, what we are demanding that in social sectors, education, health, then the welfare of the weaker sections, Tripura though very tiny state during the left front period, in all parameters and the human development index, which was published by the then planning commission and later by the Moodis baby, this Nithya Ayur etc. Left front government's performance was at the top, either number one or at the top. But during these three and a half years, though they have committed to make Tripura a model state and if the party which governing from the center, if the same party comes to the power to the state, there will be a double engine government. But during three and half years, not a single new project, not a single new scheme was implemented, rather what welfare schemes were there during the left front government's time, almost either it is phased out or it is, what does it say, suffering from death of fund etc. And that also we are raising that it should be, that is continued, it should be further implemented. Third, that the lawlessness, restoration of democracy, the rule of law, that should be established. So, these three fundamental things other than the national issues, the issues of the agricultural bill, the issues of the workers, hotels, level law etc., all the demands for repealing all these things, it is there to put up those small states, but we are solidaritying with the all national issues. But there are mainly on the state issues during last three and a half years, though every day we are bleeding, but we have never, that is given away this thing, the CPIM in the lab with the people for the people and they are fighting for the people, that is why this kind of atrocities are taking place. And finally, a quick look at the political situation in the state because we know that the elections are less than two years away in 2023. There is a bit of talk about of course, the Thirumul Congress kind of seeing maybe a bit of a resurgence because earlier it used to be there, then many of their forces went to the BJP. So, how does the CPIM see the political situation right now with this maybe possible reemergence of the. Yeah, it is right that after the that is a third time, I will say coming forward in Bengal, the TMC is very much resummonated and they have been attempting to regain their position there instead of the Pura because earlier entire Congress was shifted to TMC and that same TMC shifted to BJP. Today's almost all BJP MLS and ministers barring few, actually they are also TMC. So, after the Bengals result, they are thinking that they will be in a position again to bring their people back. So, they are trying to that is that is gain their footings there, but they are what we see, what the Pura people they are witnessing that in the state of Pura, yes, TMC could regain something, but not from the other masses barring who are earlier in the TMC and that earlier TMC where are they are now there in the BJP. So, BJP again is very much afraid of it, why they are attacking upon the left because it is to even threaten to TMC also and TMC also very much active and they are also that is they are dreaming now because BJP is very much bankrupt. So, in this hotels travel water their fishing will be very easy, but what can happen what I can say according to my little knowledge of the politics in the last 4 decades, yes, there the BJP's house is very much in for the sake of position, there will be something some erosion within BJP and that will a section will go to the TMC, but TMC would not be in a position to earn the support of the larger masses, they will remain like that. So, this is the scenario in the state of the Pura and they are left of course, even after this brutal attack new new variant of the onslaught etc, but left they will the left resurgence is inevitable and it is happening. Absolutely. Thank you so much Jitendra Chauri for speaking to us. That's all we have time for today, keep watching NewsClick.