Bengali minorities rendered homeless by refugee Reangs through arsoning demonstrate against official delegation

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, July 15, 2024

More than 250 minority Bengalis sheltered temporarily in market shed and make-shift camps today launched a demonstration against the visiting BJP delegation comprising minister for social welfare Tinku Roy, BJP MLA Rampada Jamatya, party leader Subal Bhowmik and local BJP leaders of Gandacherra to protest the unprovoked and senseless attacks on by the miscreant Reang refugees from a nearby Bru settlement on last Friday and the partisanship of the subdivisional administration in distributing relief and quelling the situation. As soon as the BJP delegation reached the spot of homeless Bengali refugees in the makeshift irate Bengalis who had born the brunt of attack from the goons and thugs of the Bru settlement burst into protest demonstration demanding compensation and punishment for the easily identifiable attackers. They blamed the government and the partisan subdivisional administration and raised their demand for appropriate relief, compensation and punishment for the Reang trouble-makers from the Bru settlement. The protest was so vociferous and vehement from the affected people that the police had to rescue the minister Tinku Roy, MLA Rampada Jamatya , former MP Rebati Tripura and party leader Subal Bhowmik and escort them to the SDM office.

Even though the affected and badly victimized Bengali homeless people have been suffering for no fault of their own, the local MLA Nandita Reang has been conspicuous by absence from the spot of trouble ever since it began. They also alleged that the SDM , Gandacherra Chandroday Reang and SDPO Bapi Debbarma had played a partisan role and provided no security to them and took no action against the goons, thugs and looters from the nearby Bru settlement . Even the ‘Tipra Motha’ chief Pradyot Kishore who had visited the home of late Parameshwar Reang to shed contrived and copious tears never felt the necessity to meet and console the hapless minority Bengalis in a blatant show of his politics of sectarian exclusivism.

Speaking telephonically a Bengali small businessman Prabir Saha said that the death of Parameshwar Reang in the Ananda Mela ground was ‘accidental’ as he had gone to stop a scuffle between two persons but on the spur of the moment was pushed hard to fall below a merry-go-round. Parameshwar was electrocuted and finally died in GBP hospital after initially being treated in Gandacherra and Kulai hospital . “I myself had arranged to send young Parameshwar to hospitals in Kulai and GBP at Agartala by paying the vehicle fare but after Parameshwar had unfortunately died my small shop was was the target for looting and I am now left with nothing” said Prabir. He said that the minority Bengalis, all residents of Tripura down genrerations and oustees from the Dumbur hydro-electrical project site have a good relations with the local tribals but the trouble had been created by the culturally alien Reangs from the nearby Bru settlement. “ We fail to realize why former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb had agreed to let the refugee Reangs from Mizoram stay on and settle in Tripura without realizing the devious conspiracy of Pradyot Kishore who all along had an agenda to retain the Bru refugees from Mizoram here” said Manas Bardhan , another affected small trader from Gandacherra.