Violence in Tripura was aimed at polarising local body polls: Former MP Jitendra Chaudhury

Tripura violence – in which properties, shops belonging to the minority community were burnt down by the right-wing Hindutva forces – was a pre-planned conspiracy to polarize the local body elections due in the last week of this month alleged, the CPI(M) leader, Jitendra Chaudhury.

Talking to National Herald over the phone, the former Member of Lok Sabha from Tripura (East) said that the “violence in the northern part of Tripura was seen as a reactionary move” by some. The RSS affiliate VHP, Hindu Jagran Samiti propagated it as a reaction to the action (attack on Hindus in Bangladesh) but “the reality is that it was all pre-planned”.

“No communal violence can take place unless it is allowed to happen,” emphasised Chaudhury, highlighting, “The VHP took out a procession through areas which are known to be communally sensitive because they knew if they chose other areas, there will perhaps be no reaction,” said Chaudhary who won the Lok Sabha election in 2014 when the Modi wave was on its peak.

Tripura State Election Commission (SEC) had announced in October that the election to 20 urban local bodies, including Agartala Municipal Corporation in all the eight districts in the state would be held on November 25.

The election to the local bodies could not be held due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The term of office of the urban local bodies had ended on December 18, 2020.

Saying that strict action and arrest of over 400 hundred people in Bangladesh by the Sheikh Hasina government contained the spread of violence in Tripura, Chaudhary added, “Peace-loving people from both communities have come forward and hit the street against the riots. It helped police and the administration in containing the violence.”

He, however, said that radical elements among the minority community were involved in rumor-mongering.

When asked why the BJP government will resort to such tactics, as they are already in power and the local body polls are usually won by the ruling party, the senior communist leader said, “They (BJP) will keep the state boiling until the assembly polls are held next year. This is just the beginning. Since the Deb government does not have any achievement to show to the people, they are resorting to diversionary tactics”.

“Riots and the BJP have become synonymous with each other. Why do riots happen at the time of elections? Gujrat riots, Delhi riots, Tripura riots – all happened in the time of the election,” said Chaudhary.