JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE

(Constituted By Various Organizations)

Agartala, Tripura, E-mail:-jactripura@gmail.com, Hello-9436124609.
F. No. 1(5)/ JAC/2016/57 Dated, Agartala, the 30th September, 2016.
To
The Additional Director,
Lok Sabha Secretariat,
Room No-317 (OC),
Third Floor, Parliament House Annexe,
New Delhi-110001,

Subject:- Submission of views / Opinion in respect of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in response to
the notification by the Joint Parliamentary Committee headed by Dr. Satyapal Singh, MP, (Baghpat).
Sir,
In response to the notification of the Joint Parliamentary Committee headed by Dr. Satyapal
Singh, MP, (Baghpat) inviting opinion / view on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 introduced by Shri
Rajnath Singh, the Union Minister of Home Affairs in Lok Sabha on 19 th July, 2016 , we, the members of the
Joint Action Committee, a non-political forum of the Indigenous Tripuri People of Tripura State have the
following opinion to furnish to the Chairman of the Committee constituted by the Hon’ble Speaker of Lok
Sabha to which the amendment Bill has been referred to for examination
(1) Tripura is the worse victim of the illegal migration of Hindu Bengalee refugees who had migrated to
Tripiura from erstwhile East-Pakistan now Bangladesh and permanently settled down in the state from
the time of merger of Tripura 09-09-1949 till today, as a result of which the aboriginal Tripuri people of
the state have been reduced to minority, now constituting 31% of the State population. As per 2011
census report Tripura is the only state in the entire country where the indigenous majority people
(Tripuris) have been outnumbered by the illegal migrants from the neighboring country (East Pakistan,
now Bangladesh).
(2) Tripura has the longest history of princely rule by 184 Kings for around a period of 5000 years. It is one
of the oldest kingdoms next to Japan in the world. The Tripuris fought fierce battles with the Muslim
invaders during its 600 years’ rule in India and managed to exist as an independent Kingdom. Even the
British Raj had to recognize Tripura as an independent Kingdom with which it had no written treaty , a
rare instance during British Rule Tripura participated in the 1 st and 2nd world war in favour of British
Emperor and was honoured by the British Raj with 13 gun salutes . Vedas, Mahabarata, Ramayana and
the Puranas have reference of Tripura Kingdom. Tripura was recognized as a powerful Hindu Kingdom
since time immemorial.
(3) The last King of Tripura, Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur expressed his willingness, before his
death in 1947, favour of merging with Indian Dominion. After his death, his son Kirit Bikram was 13
years old only and therefore , a council of regency was formed headed by Rajmata Kanchan Prabha
Devi , the wife of Maharaj Bir Bikram. Accordingly, regent Kanchanprabha Devi signed the Instrument
of Accession on 13.03.1947 and therafter Merger Agreement on 9-09-1949 with the Govt. of India for
the safety, security, welfare and prosperity of the Tripuri people of the Kingdom.
(4) But what happened within one decade in the post-merger period to the destiny of Tripuris people was
not only complete failure of the Govt. of India to protect the interest of the Tripuri people but also
proved the Merger Agreement to be suicidal for Tripuri people. The decadal growth rate of population
between 1951-1961 the hilly Tripura was as high as 78.71% as against all India decadal growth rate of
only 21.6%due to large scale illegal migration of Hindu Bengali & people from East-Pakistan, now
Bangladesh who discovered Tripura as their safe heaven. The aboriginal Tripuri people have been
reduced to minority in their own soil for the first time and the state Govt. power shifted to the hands of
the illegal migrants, as majority people only rule in a democratic system.
(5) In 1951, Mr. G.V. Panth , the then Home Minister of India, in his statement on the floor of Parliament
declared “ Tripura is supersaturated with influx population . Not a single refugee could further be
accommodated in Tripura State” . The Govt. of India appointed a Commission in 1960 with the
Chairmenship of Shri U.N. Dhebar, known as “Dhebar Commission” to look into the problem of illegal
migrants and to put a preventive check on further inflow of the illegal migrants Tripura. The
Commission’s one of the recommendations was “ The influx of displaced person from Pakistan ( Now
Bangladesh) to Tripura has been enormous and has upset the local economy. It has greatly affected the
Tribals and has made the Tribal problem acute. The right of the Tribals in land should be safeguarded”.
Further, Shri Indrajeet Gupta, the then Hon’ble Minister of Home Affairs of India stated in Parliament
on 6th May, 1997 that there were 10 million illegal migrants residing in India. Quoting MHA/
Intelligence Bureau source, the 10 August, 1998 issue of “India Today” has given the breakups of these
illegal migrants by States: West Bengal 5.4 million, Assam 4 million, Tripura 0.8 million, Bihar 0.5
million, Maharastra 0.5 million, Rajasthan 0.5 million and Delhi 0.3 million making a total of 12
millions.
In 1993-94, in the electoral Rolls revision exercise in Tripura, 1.35 lakhs persons were identified as not
having Citizenship and other legal documents. It is well established that they were none but illegal
migrants from Bangladesh. Later, all of they were allowed to live in Tripura permanently and enlisted in
electoral roll as voters with the support of the State Govt. ruled by the migrants in violation of Govt. of
India’s instruction which was issued to all the Chief Secretaries of State Govts. and UTs by Sri G.L.
Goyal , Under Secretary to the Govt. of India vide no- 26011/16/71.IC, Ministry of Home Affairs, Dated
New Delhi-I, the 29th Nov. 1971. The clear instruction was that no application for Indian Citizenship
from the refugees who have crossed over to India after 25 th March, 1971 should be entertained. Prof.
A.M.Akash of Dacca University, Bangladesh, vividly depicted the declining trend of Bengalee Hindu
Minority of Bangladesh since 1951. In 1951, the Hindu Minority population accounted for 23% of the
total Population which, in 1961, came down to 19.6%, in 1974 to 14.6% , in 1981 to 13.4% and in 1991,
it had further reduced to 11.4%. By now, it may be around 6-7%. This clearly shows how Hindu
minority from Bangladesh is illegally migrating to Tripura, Assam and West Bengal and other parts of
the countries over the years since independence, not to spark of Muslims.
In such a situation, we feel, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will legalize their stay in India as
Citizen and will certainly encourage more migration remaining Hindu majority of Bengali (around 2
crores) into India.
The Bengalee Hindu minority people of Bangladesh prefer migration into Meghalaya , Assam and
Tripura where large number of them migrated and settled down illegally in the past and therefore having
their Kits and kins. Their population is constantly increasing in the north Eastern Region creating dis-
balance in the demographic structure of different states of this region. In fact, it is the root cause of
tension and extremist activities in the region. Moreover, these Bengalee Hindu migrants can easily
flourish in the North-East taking the advantage of simplicity of the Tribal people of the region. Tthe
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, therefore, can aggravate the situation in this sensitive region of the
Country.
Keeping in view of the above narrated circumstances, we want cancellation of the Citizenship
( Amendment) Bill, 2016. Further, we want, Govt. of India, first of all, should take steps for
identification of illegal migrants of Tripura and arrange for their deportation from the state, honoring the
merger treaty to save the Tripura People. Besides, we would also desire to appear physically before the
Joint Parliamentary Committee for further discussion and submission of relevant documents.
Yours faithfully,

(Mg. Anthony Debbarma)

CONVENER
E-mail:- db_anthony@yahoo.co.in