Agartala, Aug 26, 2024, TRIPURA TIMES Desk

Agartala, Aug 26: At a time when after the Gandacherra violence had shocked the people of Tripura in the recent past and then another tension triggered among the people belonging to the Hindu and Muslim community on Sunday last over defacing of Kali idol and torching of several houses at Ranir Bazar area in the outskirts of capital town of Agartala, the opposition Congress party on Monday strongly condemned the incident and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

Addressing a press conference here at Agartala Congress Bhavan, the Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman labelled the incident as ‘well planned calculative move’ to trigger communal violence in Tripura and disrupt peace.

“This move was to completely disrupt the peace in Tripura and defame the Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha,” he said, adding that the incident had mainly targeted the minorities, where several houses were looted and then torched to eliminate evidence.  

Reacting sharply into the incident, Barman on Monday alleged, “The so called some Hindu organisations had triggered this violence by targeting the minorities. I have information that before the incident occurred on Sunday a meeting was held by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, where the decision was taken to target minorities. The incident was a well-planned calculative move, I say.”

“Attempts are being made to disrupt peace in Tripura through triggering violence between tribals and non-tribals and through communal violence between Hindus and Muslims,” Barman told reporters, adding that there is a need for an urgent intervention of the government to tackle such incidents.

On the other hand, Barman expressed his concern over the role of the police and alleged that the police have failed to tackle the incident, where several houses were torched. He alleged, “The entire incident took place infront of the SP and other police forces, but no such attempt was made from the end of police, but no such attempt was made to arrest the miscreants, who set several houses on fire in view of the defacing of Kali idol.”

Barman also expressed his concern over the role of Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha and said, “Regarding the incident, there was no reaction available from the Chief Minister on his social media handles at least. The Chief Minister did not even bother to express his concern over the incident, which signifies that he doesn’t want to open his mouth against the so called Hindu organisations, which are targeting the minorities in Tripura.”

The Congress MLA however sought the intervention of the Chief Minister Dr Saha, who also the home port folio and demanded immediate arrest of the miscreants.