The information minister Mr Jiten Chowdhury , a leading light of the left front –a man known for his dynamism , liberal political perspective and whole-hearted commitment to the people at large-has already made a niche for himself in the cross-currents of state politics. With his solid grounding in Marxist political philosophy Mr Chowdhury-unlike most of his contemporaries across Tripura’s political spectrum –had perceptively traced the origin of the state’s ethnic unrest to the partition of India and, for that matter, Tripura. With his profound knowledge of the dialectical process which propels historical developments the young information minister reacted to the answers furnished by INPT supremo Bijay Kumar Hrangkhawal in an interview displayed by tripurainfo.com earlier. We present to our viewers the standpoint of information minister Sri Jiten Chowdhury in the following interview.

Q.No.1. The speech delivered by Shri Bijay Kumar Hrangkhawal at Geneva in the convention of the Working Group of Indigenous Population (WGIP) wherein he has described the militant activities as struggle for right to ‘self-determination’ has triggered a major controversy. What is your comment on the issue in view of the interpretation of his speech given by Hrangkhawal himself ?

Jiten : This is not merely a controversy , but a sort of serious offence committed by Mr Hrangkhawal who has openly advocated in favour of outlawed outfits.

Q.No.2: In his speech Mr Hrangkhawal has blamed ministers of Tripura’s last king belonging to a particular community and religion for the state’s merger with the Indian union without being able to substantiate the matter with historical facts . How would you react to this , considering Hrangkhawal’s subsequent statement that ‘it is the view of his party’?

Jiten : Of course , the intellectuals always play some vital role in such a situation . But here in Tripura the merger with Indian union was unanimous because the people , both indigenous tribals and Bengalis , were very much fed up with the rule of the Manikya dynasty. The discontent among the tribal masses was particularly acute because of their deprivation and denial of minimum basic development under the Maharaja’s regime .

Q.No.3: Tripura has been ravaged by insurgency over the past two decades to the immense suffering of all the communities , particularly the backward tribals.
As a senior Marxist tribal leader how do you think can the problem of insurgency be resolved , taking into account the reluctance shown by the banned outfits to hold peace talks with the state government despite repeated appeals?

Jiten : Yes, I am very much optimistic . The days are nearing when the insurgency problem shall definitely come to an everlasting end . At present the hardcore elements are not so much of a problem . Unfortunately ,the problems emerge from the activities of so-called nationalist political parties who are our opponents in state politics . It is because of their mischievous guidance and power politics that the situation is not improving. I do not find the outfits are reluctant to hold talks , otherwise how could we see home-coming of many a rebel almost every day .

Q.No.4: Mr Hrangkhawal has held out ‘self-determination’ as the panacea for an end to insurgency and advancement of tribals stopping short of precisely defining the issue . What is your view ?

Jiten : It is fine that Mr Hrangkhawal has given a nice interpretation of self-determination but does it corroborate to the role of his party in maintaining peace, tranquility and development in the state ? If so, Mr Hrangkhawal and his party exclusively comprising tribals would not have discovered ‘acting ‘ on the part of misguided youths who come home after bidding farewell to arms. Rather , INPT is putting every obstacle in the way of the misguided youths in returning to normal ,mainstream life.

Q.No.5: The election to the state assembly is knocking on the door . How do you view the prospects of your party vis-à-vis the alliance formed by Congress with INPT and is there a possibility of the ADC election scenario-2000 being repeated ?

Jiten : Left Front is all set to form government for the 5^th time on the strength of its positive role and performance towards welfare of the people and the state. What happened in the ADC election –2000 was an accident and history does not repeat itself, particularly in a state where people are aware and conscious of their rights and privileges.

Q.No.6: The police firing at Satchand on the day of Congress-INPT’s road blockade programme seems to have cast a shadow over politics there . Do you think it will have any impact on the prospects of the Left Front in the coming assembly election in the constituency ?

Jiten : In order to bail Mr Hrangkhawal out of the legal tangle the Congress-INPT alliance launched the ‘Rasta-rokho’ movement of September 28 which led to the death of two innocent youths and injury to many other civilians and members of security forces. The people in general are disillusioned with the negative politics of Congress-INPT and deserting them on a large scale , further accentuating their confusion .

Q.No.7: Mr Hrangkhawal accuses the state government of political vendetta in regard to the police case registered against him. As a senior Marxist tribal leader and minister, what is your reaction to his charge?

Jiten : Mr Hrangkhawal himself has invented and manufactured the so-called vendetta . If he is so confident and innocent why does not he hand over the original text of his speech to the inquiry officer and get himself acquitted of the charges brought against him?

Q.No.8: The Opposition parties allege that the Left Front is playing on nontribal sentiment as part of its politics of ethnic divide to garner vote in the next assembly elections . What is your comment ?

Jiten : Well , Left Front never play any communal or castist card . Ours is a party of the working class and toiling masses and our capital is their unstinted support to our ideology and programme. Election is part of the larger political struggle through which we identify our friends and foes ,strengths and weaknesses. Our basic struggle aims at long term gains for the working class people and toiling masses, not short-term gains. Our main strength is thus the unity of the working class people and toiling masses under the banner of our party.

Q.No.9: Do you foresee Tiger Force and different factions of NLFT uniting in the near future to intensify their offensive ? Will the insurgency situation in Tripura further aggravate ?

Jiten : No, I certainly do not foresee such a scenario because they do not have any ideology or programme for the people , not even for the tribal. They are misled and badly exploited by the vested interests . Since the common tribal are the worst victims of their activities , the misguided elements can not survive for long.

Q.No.10: Indian National Congress (INC) , oldest political party in the country, has forged electoral alliance with a party (INPT) having nexus with the militants . How do you look at this , a short-term policy change for electoral gains or a long term strategy ?

Jiten : Well Congress does not have an ideology worth the name , it is totally bankrupt. The party, specially in Tripura, has given up its ideology and is wedded to the opportunistic policy of grabbing power by any means. The country as a whole is also suffering because of the bankruptcy of Congress.

Q.No.11: What is your call towards the militants ?

Jiten : They are our innocent brothers , misled and exploited by the power-mongers and vested interests. I appeal to them to return to normal life and join the mainstream to build up a new Tripura as a true democratic citizen.