AGARTALA, INDIA, Aug 12, Reuter: A decade long tribal rebellion in the northwest Indian state of Tripura came to an end on Friday with the signing of a peace accord.
Guerilla leaders of the Tripura National volunteers, whose rebellion has claimed 1,200 lives since 1978, signed the pact with state officials in New Delhi, a home (interior) Ministry statement said.
“The Chief Minister’s office in Tripura said under the pact the government would order the removal of Bangladeshi refugees who settled in tribal lands since 1971, when Bangladesh became independent.
The Rebels had been pressing for the expulsion of all nontribal settlers.
The pact another accord follows closely another accord last month ending three years of Gurkha agitation in the Darjeeling region of west Bengal state.
Gandhi’s Congress (I) party won a surprise victory in Tripura state assembly elections last February. Local sources said the Rebels had lost support since then.
Only about 200 guerrillas were still active and had all agreed to lay down their arms, they said.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 19, 1988
