Tripura: Surrendered militant organizations threaten to go for indefinite road blockade

As the date for vital assembly election is fast approaching surrendered militant organization under the banner of Deprived Returnees Movement Committee (DRMC) has again threatened to go for indefinite blockade of the National Highway if their demands are not fulfilled.

Giving an ultimatum till 15 August for fulfilling their demands, Amrit Reang, general secretary of the DRMC, an organisations of around 1000 surrendered militants has threatened that jointly with another similar organization - the Joint Action Committee (JAC) they shall go for indefinite blockade the Assam-Agartala National Highway 08 from August 19 morning.

He said that they had repeatedly placed nine point charter of demands before the state government and the last meeting was held in the chamber of tribal welfare minister Ram Pada Jamatia who held two consequent meetings with the returnee insurgent leaders in June and July this year and commitment to fulfil their demands but unfortunately those are still in papers and nothing in ground so they have no other option but to go for indefinite blockade of the national highway which earlier twice they had deferred after the Minister promised to look into.

The demands include compensation for returnees, rubber plantations for rehabilitation, housing under PMAY, benefits under various schemes of agriculture and horticulture, tractors for cultivation, schemes under animal resource development, education for their children and withdrawal of pending police and court cases against them.

Two months after they deferred a National Highway blockade, the leader of the returnee insurgents of Tripura again announced that they shall wait for the reply of the state government till August 15 and if their demands aren't fulfilled or any proper step taken by then by the authority they shall be compelled to go for indefinite road blockade at Champaknagar in West Tripura district’s from 8 AM on August 19.

According to a document in connection to help rehabilitation the Minister has demanded for immediately verification of genuineness of 859 surrendered militants who have applicants for various schemes and submit the final report by  30 June 2022.

Meantime, Tribal Welfare Minister Ram Pada Jamatia viewed that the government is very much honest in its initiative regarding helping them and the checking for the genuineness of the application are going on and for which little more time is required and so the returnees should have total confidence on this government unlike the previous Left Front government works with the motto ‘Sabh Ka Sath, Sabha Ka Biswas’ and working hard so that the fruit of development reaches down to the poorest of the poor.