Opinion: Kadamtala Communal Violence Shows Why Tripura Needs To Go Beyond Short-Term Fixes For Lasting Peace

Goods strewn outside vandalised shops after clashes between two communities, at Kadamtala in Dharmanagar, Tripura, on October 7, 2024.

Source : PTI

The internet was finally restored in North Tripura and Unakoti districts on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday after nearly 72 hours. The shutdown internet services late Sunday night, ahead of the state’s biggest festival Durga Puja, caused a huge problem for the business class and the common people as online payment became a casualty. In addition to this, stoppage of internet services also meant delay in getting essential supplies of ration since internet is required for Aadhaar card fingerprint verification introduced to prevent fraud in the Public Distribution System (PDS) — making it difficult for the common people, particularly those belonging to economically weaker sections. 

Last Sunday, communal violence broke out in Kadamtala of North Tripura district. Kadamtala has a mixed population of Hindus and Muslims. According to media reports, the violence happened after a Muslim driver refused to pay Durga Puja donations to a group. The driver was reportedly taking a patient to hospital and cited an emergency for his inability to pay. He was then assaulted by the group, the reports said.

After hearing of the alleged assault, Muslim community members gathered outside the local police station to protest. Based on their complaint, the police arrested two persons.

However, as per reports, things took a different turn when some protestors vandalised businesses and shops belonging to the Hindu community, leading to police action to disperse the crowd. Later, members from the Hindu community held a counter-protest and allegedly indulged in further vandalism, prompting another round of police action. 

To bring the law and order under control, security forces were forced to open fire, which killed one person and injured two others. To prevent spread of rumours through social media, internet services were stopped for 72 hours in North Tripura district as well as the neighbouring Unakoti district. 

With the efforts of the administration, there have been peace community meetings to restore the communal harmony. According to Chief Minister Manik Saha, as many as eight persons, including five Durga Puja organisers, have been arrested. He also stated that more persons related to the violence will be booked. 

It is a welcome move that the state government didn't let the situation spread beyond Kadamtala by taking cautionary measures. But having said that, there is no room for complacency.

While there have been issues of Durga Puja organisers forcing common people, including Hindus, to pay higher amounts of donations and the government needs to introspect how to rein this culture, it is also a fact that had the driver been a Hindu the Kadamtala incident would not have taken a communal colour. 

There are some questions in the minds of the people. What were the factors that led to the Kadamtala violence? Are the attacks happening on Hindu minorities in neighbouring Bangladesh creating a polarisation among Hindus living in Tripura? Is there any truth in the allegations of Opposition parties — Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress — who are blaming some ruling BJP leaders for “inciting the riots” responsible for the communal violence? 

While there are no answers at present, what can be said without a doubt is that there are some extremist elements within our society who are always ready to misuse the religious division between Hindus and Muslims to create unrest. While it is necessary for both the ruling party as well as the Opposition to address the identity issues of Hindus and Muslims, it is also crucial for them not to create further division only for political gains.

Being the ruling party, the BJP has more responsibility to ensure communal harmony. Kadamtala communal violence should be a wake-up call for the state government led by Manik Saha not to allow the extremist elements to vitiate the environment of the state. The government should stress on organising inter-community social programmes at regular intervals across the state to strengthen communal harmony. 

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Challenge For Opposition MNF To Recover Lost Ground In SHC Polls 

This week, the main Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) announced its candidates for the ethnic minority Hmar-dominated Sinlung Hills Council (SHC) polls, which are scheduled to be held on November 5. The party is fighting the polls in alliance with the Hmar People’s Convention (Reformation) or HPC(R). Of the 12 council seats, MNF is contesting on 10 and HPC(R) on two. The council is spread in the Hmar-dominated areas in the northeastern part of Mizoram and covers three assembly constituencies — Tuivawl, Chalfilh and Serlui. 

For the MNF, which lost power to the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) in last year’s state assembly elections, the council election is an opportunity to test its strength. The party in alliance with the Hmar People's Convention (HPC) — now an ally of ZPM — had won the last SHC polls by grabbing 10 seats out of 12.

The political scenario in the SHC area has changed over the last few years. Last year, HPC allied with ZPM and later MNF formed an alliance with HPC(R) ahead of the state elections held in November last year. While the MNF lost the state elections and was reduced to 10 seats, the MNF — supported by HPC(R) — was able to retain the two Hmar-dominated seats, Tuivawl and Serlui. In the Lok Sabha polls, the MNF got a setback as it found itself lagging behind the ZPM in the Hmar-dominated areas. 

If the MNF in alliance with the HPC(R) wins the council polls, this would be seen as the main Opposition party, being able to recover some of the ground it had lost in the disastrous Lok Sabha elections, where the party didn't lead in any assembly constituency, and also dealing a blow to the ZPM, which already has an advantage being the ruling party. Its advantage increased particularly after it was able to lead in the three Hmar-dominated seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Aware that the fight won't be easy, the MNF-HPC(R) alliance is banking on new faces. Nine out of the 12 alliance candidates are fresh names, while the ZPM-HPC coalition has allocated tickets to six new candidates.

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Dissent Hits NPP’s Manipur Unit Over Support To Biren Singh-Led Govt 

The National People's Party (NPP) of Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is hit by internal dissent over the party's support to the Biren Singh-led BJP government of Manipur. That the dissent is refusing to die down became clear this week when the party’s seven legislators remained absent at the party's state executive meeting held in Imphal. The meeting was attended by the party’s national vice-president Yumnam Joykumar and many senior executive committee members.

The meeting was held with the consent of the NPP state president N Kayisii, a Naga legislator from the Tadubi assembly constituency. However, he himself remained absent. According to state media reports, Kayisii was absent as he is out of the state for medical treatment. Similar was the case with Kshetrigao legislator Sheikh Noorul Hassan. But what about the other five legislators of the party absent from the meeting?

It seems the party legislators have been able to read the writing on the wall — that the Biren Singh-led BJP government has become unpopular for its failure to handle the state after ethnic violence broke out between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zomis last year. They want to withdraw support from the Biren Singh-led government, which, however, has the required numbers even without NPP support.

However, not all state executive committee members agree with this proposal. To resolve this, a state executive committee meeting was held in Guwahati last month, which was attended by party national president Conrad Sangma. However, the meeting failed to reach a conclusion. As a result, it was decided that a decision would be taken at the party's national executive meeting to be held in New Delhi on October 5 but this meeting was also cancelled later. 

The NPP, being a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, has a responsibility to pressurise its ally BJP, dependent on Biren Singh, to correct its course in the strife-torn state. It would be better for the party to rather act accordingly with the ground reality. This way it would not only save itself from a looming split but also send a positive signal to the people of the state. 

Bio: The author is a political commentator.

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