Post-poll violence-affected victims await justice, hope in Tripura

Several incidents of violence were witnessed in different parts of the state, including at Singicherra village in Khowai district, Nutanbazaar and Kakraban in Gomati district, two incidents occurred at Kumarghat in Unakoti district, Agartala and Jirania in West district while nine incidents occurred at Dhanpur, Sonamura, Nalchar, Boxanagar and Bishalgarh in Sepahijala district

Debabrata Ghosh, 48, went to open his Xerox shop on March 4 as usual but he was unaware of the fact that misfortune has made its way towards his home. A day after the state assembly polls in Tripura, a group of people allegedly stopped Ghosh from opening his shop and made him stay at home for an indefinite time and also allegedly attacked his house.

A house was ransacked during the post-poll violence in Tripura’s Pratapgarh (HT Photo)

Over a month passed after the incident, his family of five are leading their lives with the hope that everything will be fine again.

“I have two daughters, a wife and an aged mother. The shop was my only source of income to survive. Both my daughters are studying. You can imagine how difficult it is to educate them along with meeting other required expenses single-handedly. I don’t know when I can open my shop,” said Debabrata, a resident of Pratapgarh’s Surendra Pally in the West district.

In Tripura, incidents of post-poll violence were witnessed in different parts, including Agartala and Jirania in the West district.

It was nearly 12:30am on April 9 when Srish Chandra Dey, 76, was preparing to go to bed. His wife Sati Dey and son Samrat Dey were dining when they heard people hurling abuses and calling Srish to come out of the house. “They (miscreants) hit the boundary wall and pierced it with rods. They attacked my son. I tried to save him and injured my head for which I took 11 stitches,” said Srish, a retired Group D employee.

His 61-year-old wife also sustained head injuries. Samrat had a small supply business that was hampered during the violence, Srish said.

Janna Debbarma, a resident of Champamura village, over 20 km from the capital Agartala, incurred a huge financial loss after his two rubber plantations were set on fire by unknown miscreants in post-poll violence. “After the 2018 poll results, my rubber plantation was burnt, and I filed a complaint at the local police station, but no action was taken. On March 3 night this year, again my rubber plantation was set on fire, but this time I didn’t file any complaint,” said the 65-year-old.

Other people in several districts in the state also experienced the attack on their houses and properties.

In the 2023 Tripura polls, at least 21 people were arrested in 16 cases of post-poll violence in five districts.

Several incidents of violence were witnessed in different parts of the state, including at Singicherra village in Khowai district, Nutanbazaar and Kakraban in Gomati district, two incidents occurred at Kumarghat in Unakoti district, Agartala and Jirania in West district while nine incidents occurred at Dhanpur, Sonamura, Nalchar, Boxanagar and Bishalgarh in Sepahijala district.

Post-poll violence has been a serious concern for the opposition parties, especially the Left Front. Even a seven-member parliamentary team comprising Left and Congress MPs came under attack during their visit to the state in March while taking stock of the violence-hit areas.

They have alleged that even after the polls were over and BJP formed its government, there had been attacks on people, their houses, agricultural fields, and rubber plantations.

The delegation comprising the opposition parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, and the Congress, which were allies in the Tripura Assembly polls, had visited the state to take stock of the situation in the areas where the post-poll violence was witnessed.

In April, a six-member delegation headed by the former chief minister and CPI(M) Politburo member Manik Sarkar alleged that 2,016 incidents of violence throughout the state had taken place since poll results in 2023.

CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem, who led an 8-member fact-finding team to Tripura in the post-poll violence-hit areas alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers unleashed “unbridled attacks” on the people, particularly opposition while celebrating their party’s win in 2023 assembly polls.

The opposition has alleged BJP of encouraging violence in the state after winning the assembly polls.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, Tripura has had the highest number of political violence cases in the northeastern region.

Reacting to the allegation of post-poll violence, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said that the people of Tripura know which party has brought the culture of violence, they want peace and development and that is why they have chosen the BJP again.