BJP ally Tipra Motha seeks PM's intervention for 'pushing back' all illegal immigrants in Tripura

Agartala: BJP ally Tipra Motha Party (TMP) sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for sending back all illegal Bangladeshi immigrants living in Tripura.

Senior TMP leader Animesh Debbarma, the forest minister, told PTI that following the directives of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), states like Gujarat, Assam and Meghalaya took swift action.

"Illegal migrants were detained, flown to various border areas and pushed back to their country of origin. This has not been done in Tripura as was expected," he said.

With this demand, a 15-member delegation of the TMP, led by Debbarma, met Governor N Indrasena Reddy on Saturday night and handed over a memorandum, seeking the PM's intervention.

Debbarma said the TMP urged the PM to send a task force to the state.

"We also urged for the setting up of a mechanism, involving the Assam Rifles, CRPF and the state police to detect, detain and push back the illegal migrants," he said.

Expressing concern over "demographic change" in the state, Debbarma said, "As per government records, the state accepted 6,09,000 people who had migrated from Bangladesh for various reasons during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. An accord was signed with a cut-off date of March 24, 1971, for the identification of illegal migrants."

A Mobile Task Force (MTF) was also raised under the Tripura Police with a separate budget for detection and deportation of all the illegal migrants, but the problem persists, he said.