Petition counters NRC cutoff in Tripura

AGARTALA : A petition countering the cutoff date for implementation of NRC in Tripura has been filed in the Supreme Court (SC), two days before the scheduled hearing on the issue in the apex court.
The Rastriya Sat Katha Samaj (RSKS) - a newly-constituted body which filed the counter petition on Saturday - has sent copies of it to all the stakeholders, including Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb and the Solicitor General of India with details of its arguments.
Recently, Patal Kanya Jamatia of Tripura Peoples' Front had filed a writ petition in the SC seeking NRC implementation in Tripura saying that largescale influx from Bangladesh has reduced the indigenous people of the state to a minority. Later, royal family scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman and INPT also supported the demand. The petition sought consideration of November 19, 1951, as the cutoff date. Acting on it, the SC had issued notices to the Centre and the Tripura government and is scheduled to hear the case on Tuesday.
The RSKS, in its petition, has demanded that pre-partition inhabitants of Chakla Roshnabad of present day Bangladesh be considered as permanent residents of Tripura. According to RSKS, Chakla Roshnabad was a permanently settled estate with an area of 570 square miles belonging to the King of Hill Tippera situated in the Eastern Bengal districts of Tippera and Noakhali and in the Assam district of Syllet till the merger with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949.
"The people residing in the Chakla Roshnabad area were under the King of Tripura and when it merged with India, the inhabitants of the region preferred to remain with India. So, the residents of that region cannot be considered as foreigners. The petition seeking NRC in Tripura considering 1951 as the cutoff date is not justified," said RSKS president Chandan Dey.
Referring to the Imperial Gazette, Dey pointed out that Chakla Roshnabad was the main source of revenue of the kings of Hill Tippera and when Tripura merged with the Indian Union, the people of the region automatically shifted to India but the land mass remained with Bangladesh. "We have full confidence in the SC that it will consider the historical facts meticulously before taking a final decision. The RSKS also sought the support of the Tripura government," he said.
On the other hand, INPT leaders have met Union home minister Rajnath Singh seeking NRC in Tripura. Party president Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawal and general secretary Jagadish Debbarma met a senior advocate in the SC and former Union minister Salman Khurshid over the issue.