Tripura Congress Delegation Opposes CAA, Fears for State's Demography

A delegation of the Adivasi Congress from Tripura met Chief Secretary J K Sinha to voice concerns over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), fearing it could alter the state's demography. They demanded the Centre stop its implementation, citing past demographic changes from Bangladeshi influxes.

A delegation of Adivasi Congress, the tribal wing of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), on Tuesday met Chief Secretary J K Sinha and submitted a memorandum to him highlighting the grand old party's concerns over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Asserting that the CAA will adversely impact the state's demography, the TPCC has already announced that it will launch a massive agitation against the law.

''Today, we met the chief secretary and handed him a memorandum highlighting the party's concerns over the implementation of CAA. The chief secretary said he will send it to the law department,'' Adivasi Congress chairman Sabda Kumar Jamatia told reporters after the meeting.

Noting that Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, he expressed concerns over possible demographic change in the state if CAA was implemented.

''Our small state had witnessed a massive influx from Bangladesh in 1971 and it changed the demographic profile of the bordering state. If that gets repeated in 2024, not only the tribals, even non-tribals will suffer. Hence, we want the Centre to stop implementation of the controversial Act immediately,'' he said.

CAA seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis, Sikhs and Jains fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they entered India before December 31, 2014.

Meanwhile, a day after senior Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman alleged that Tipra Motha was silent on CAA implementation, the regional party's supremo Pradyot Debbarma on Tuesday claimed he has always been fighting against the Act.

''It is Pradyot Kishore Debbarma who has been fighting a legal battle against the CAA in the Supreme Court, and not Sudip Roy Barman... the Centre has already promised that the Act will not be implemented in the ADC (autonomous district council) areas of the state,'' he said in an audio message.

Debbarma said allotment of 'pattas' or land documents to Tiprasa people was included in the agreement signed with the Centre.

He said that a sizeable number of Tiprasa people are living outside the sixth schedule areas and bringing them under the ambit of the ADC is one of the points in the agreement.

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