Let us be the first

The series of first-of-its-kind original and inspiring writings published in the bishnupriyamanipuri.org on the life and time of Bimal Sinha by Karunamay Singha, has not only increased our understanding about the true leader of the soil among ourselves and to the whole world to take notice, it has pushed coming writers to go for intensive and extensive research who will be working on him.

Here is an article devoted to him, published “first” by the Frontline magazine, April 11-24, 1998. The article “A Brief Profile of Bimal Sinha” published here on October 8, 2007, is the re-write of the Frontline article.

THE STATES

A Minister killed in Tripura

The killing of Tripura Health Minister Bimal Sinha by the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura is a reflection of the seriousness of the terrorist threat in the northeastern region.

KALYAN CHAUDHURI

ON March 31, Tripura’s Health and Urban Development Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Bimal Sinha and his younger brother Bidyut Sinha were gunned down by the militants of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT).

The Minister and his brother walked into a trap set by the NLFT. The extremists had offered to release the Minister’s adopted brother Bikram Sinha, a contractor of Kamalpur whom they had abducted, and had asked the Minister to come without his guards to a place near Avanga on the Ambassa-Kamalpur road in north Tripura. Accordingly, Bimal Sinha left his car and security personnel behind at Avanga and, along with Bidyut Sinha and a local Congress(I) leader, walked towards the Dhalai river. About 20 NLFT militants who were waiting on the river bank opened fire on the Minister and his brother from close range. The two died on the spot. The security personnel rushed to the spot but it was too late.

Bikram Sinha was kidnapped on February 9, before the elections to the State Assembly in which the CPI(M) was returned to power. Official sources said that there had been no demand for ransom. Bikram Sinha was not a member of the CPI(M).

A statement issued by the State Secretariat of the CPI(M) said that 49-year-old Bimal Sinha was a victim of a “deep-seated” conspiracy. He had apparently been targeted because he was popular among the tribal people of Kamalpur and had organised them to resist the NLFT’s campaign of violence; he was elected to the Assembly consecutively for five times from Kamalpur. (In the recent Assembly elections, he campaigned against a poll boycott call given by the militants and went on to win in Kamalpur.) Bimal Sinha was known to have had strained relations with a Congress(I) leader in Kamalpur who is alleged to have links with the NLFT. CPI(M) sources said that Bikram Sinha may have been kidnapped so that the militants could get at Bimal Sinha.

Bimal Sinha entered politics during the students’ movement in 1967-68. As a general secretary of a college union that was controlled by the Students Federation of India (SFI), he came in contact with Marxist leader Nripen Chakraborty, who shaped his views and groomed him politically. A member of the CPI(M) since 1970, Bimal Sinha became a member of the party’s State Committee in 1978. He later became Deputy Speaker and then Speaker of the Assembly. A poet and novelist, he directed a Kokborok-language film, Longthorai. Based on one of his five novels, the film deals with the life of the tribal people in the Longthorai hills.

In 1984, when Bimal Sinha was Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, militants of the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) attempted to ambush his vehicle near the Baramura hill range.

In the past six years, Bimal Sinha, who was vice-president of the State unit of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), had attempted to organise mass resistance against militancy in areas inhabited by tribal people. The TNV later renounced violence and joined mainstream politics to participate in elections as an ally of the Congress(I).

Bimal Sinha had on several occasions been cautioned by the security forces against venturing into areas where the militants operated, but he continued to move around in those areas as part of his efforts to organise the tribal people. He helped secure the release of senior CPI(M) leaders in Kamalpur, including Ranjit Ghose, who had been kidnapped by the NLFT in October last year. While he was negotiating with the extremists to secure Ghose’s release, Bimal Sinha was targeted again. Ghose was released after 10 days in captivity.

In his attempt to secure Bikram Sinha’s release, Bimal Sinha contacted some overground collaborators of the NLFT, including a few local Congress(I) leaders. Reports published in the CPI(M)’s Bengali-language newspapers Ganashakti (from Calcutta) and Desher Katha (from Agartala) alleged that some local Congress(I) leaders were directly involved in the conspiracy to kill Bimal Sinha. The reports named a few Congress(I) functionaries in this regard.

AT 10 a.m. on March 31, Bidyut Sinha, a schoolteacher, informed Bimal Sinha over the telephone that a local Congress(I) leader had told him to go to the Samthung crossing across the Dhalai to secure Bikram Sinha’s release. Bimal Sinha and Bidyut Sinha rushed to Avanga. There they went to the house of a Congress(I) activist who is alleged to have links with the NLFT. The Minister and his brother were told that Bikram Sinha was waiting on the bank of the Dhalai but that they should proceed there without security personnel. Accordingly, Bimal Sinha directed his bodyguards to stay back. The local Congress(I) leader accompanied the two to the river bank, where Bimal Sinha met two armed NLFT militants. He asked them about Bikram Sinha’s whereabouts and was told that he was in the jungles across the river. Sensing trouble, Bimal Sinha refused to go further. As he turned back, about 20 militants who had been hiding in the bushes opened fire. As Bidyut Sinha fell dead, the Minister tried to take cover – in vain.

Police sources said that about a week before he was killed, Bimal Sinha had sent the local Congress(I) leader Rs.1.7 lakhs to be paid to the NLFT as ransom for the release of Bikram Sinha.

THE NLFT was formed in 1991 under the leadership of Dhananjay Reang. The outfit was blacklisted after it carried out a series of violent attacks on non-tribal people. Reang was ousted following a revolt in 1994. In recent months, the NLFT stepped up attacks on unarmed non-tribal people; in this it appears to have joined the ranks of the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), another banned organisation which targets non-tribal people.

The fact that an armed bunch of people could strike with impunity at a State Minister is a reflection of the seriousness of the terrorist threat in parts of the northeastern region. the kidnapping of MLAs or the relatives of prominent politicians by insurgents has become common in Tripura. There have been counter-insurgency operations but these have not had much success, as the few offensives by militants after the recent elections showed. On March 20, the ATTF gunned down Major Santosh Pravakar and Naik Khot Shivajee Tukaram in an ambush. Two days later the NLFT killed six jawans of the Tripura State Rifles at Dhoopcherra in Khowai subdivision.

A 24-hour Statewide bandh was called on April 1 to protest against the killing of Bimal Sinha. It evoked a total response.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, in a message condemning the killing, said violence had no place in a civilised society. In a message to the Tripura Government, West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu condemned the murder and expressed concern over the rise of secessionist and extremist forces in Tripura.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar requested Union Home Minister L.K. Advani to send adequate security forces to Tripura. It was decided that 22 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force, which were withdrawn from the State last month for election duty in Jammu and Kashmir, would be sent back to the State.

Read:

Monday, 8 October 2007: A brief profile of Bimal Sinha

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Nishant Sinha & Gitendriya Sinha tops in KV Kailashahar

News

Two Bishnupriya Manipuri students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kailashahar, North Tripura, have come out with flying colours in the Central Board Secondary Education (CBSE) examination 2008.

Nishant Sinha came second securing 73 per cent among the students who appeared in the Class XII examination from the school. And from the same school, Gitendriya Sinha with 84.8 per cent came in the list of top – 5 students who excelled in the Class X examination.

It is not the first time that students of the school Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kailashahar, North Tripura, have showed their mark, in 1997, Papiya Sinha, a Bishnupriya Manipuri, of Class XI got 3rd position in regional level Science Exhibition 2007 and she attended National Level at K.V. IIT Kharagpur.

However, the examination results of students from Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura, have not been satisfactory. In the Class XII examination, 21 students in second division; and in Class X 19 students in second division, were able to clear the state board examination.

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Assam-Tripura information gap

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special VIII

The participation of The Bishnupriya Manipuri in the largest exercise of democracy is indeed a matter of prestige and a milestone set in its journey. Its involvement in the 15th Lok Sabha election hasn’t been exclusive; it can’t be. However, the series of special seven power-packed articles do carry weight and uniqueness. Not only all the articles were timely released but it was published with some special objectives.

The objectives were:

(1) Self-reliance: The so-called media group national and regional, it has been seen, utterly fails to cater to a particular segment like us that has a divided population cutting across states/ constituencies. Here with these articles we have been able to cater content to the respective constituencies where we have a sizable population like in Guwahati, Silchar, Karimganj and in the state Tripura.

(2) Content-monotony: The articles break a sort of prevailing myth that only media houses have access to news-source. We can also access information/ news. (though it is publicly available).

(3) News and analysis: Chances are there that a mainstream media journalist will not write a copy that is of concern to the minority community like us. On the contrary, it is a concern for us and it matters a lot. So an analysis was done to bring forth the stands taken up by main national parties like Congress (I), BJP and CPI (M) on key issues like minorities and OBC.

(4) Bridge information gap: It is a cut-and-dried fact: people of Assam don’t know anything about Tripura and vice-versa. People of both the states live in an information-starved environment. The fault lies in our education system plus the minuscule role media plays in both the states. For us the United States seems nearer than Tripura or Assam.

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Tripura East constituency: Cash-rich Vs Cash-less

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part VII

Total 9 candidates are contesting from the Tripura East constituency. Out of these, financial and educational profiles of the 5 contestants have been taken. From the 5 contestants, the fight is absolutely between cash-rich and cash-less contestants.

Baju Ban Riyan (Age 67)
Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tripura East

Cash: Rs. 3,000
Spouse: Rs. 3,000

Financial instruments:

Rs. 2, 83, 345.28 (SBI Parliament Branch)
Rs. 3, 07,107.27 (SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 2, 00, 000 for 729 days (Special Term Deposit, SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 10, 00,000 for 4 years (Special Term Deposit, SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 5, 00, 000 for 4 years (Special Term Deposit, SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 5, 93, 627.01 (PPF, SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 10, 000 (KVP)
Rs. 1, 00,000 (LIC, Rs. 12,178 yearly premium)
Rs. 1, 00,000 (LIC, Rs. 14,768 yearly premium)

Pulin Behari Dewan (Age 69)
Bharatiya Janata Party, Tripura East

Cash : Rs. 10, 000

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: 3 acres
Current market value: Rs. 12 lakh
Non-agricultural land: 6 acres tilla land
Current market value: Rs. 6 lakh

Buildings (commercial/ residential): Rs. 3 lakh (25 years old residential house)

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification: School Final (from BBI, Dharmanagar, North Tripura)

Diba Chandra Hrangkhwal (Age 52)
Indian National Congress, Tripura East

Cash: Rs. 750

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential):

One mud wall Residential structure built at a cost of Rs. 25,000 measuring 168 ft. occupied as permissive possessor located at Darchawi.

Loans from Bank: SBI Kumarghat Branch, North Tripura (Rs. 25,199.65 Amount outstanding as on April 2, 2009.

Government dues: NIL

Rita Rani Debbarma (Age 51)
All India Trinamool Congress, Tripura East

Cash : Rs. 1,000
Spouse: Rs.10, 000

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: 1.60 acres
Current market value: Rs. 75,000
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential): NIL

Government dues: NIL

Education qualification:

Class VIII Pass from Kalaghachia SB School (1973)

Falguni Tripura (Age 42)
All India Trinamool Congress, Tripura East

Cash : Rs. 10,000

Details of movable assets: NIL
Details of immovable assets: NIL

Government dues: NIL

Education qualification:

Read up to Class VIII from Panjiham Class XII School, Karbok, Amarpur

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Tripura West constituency: Count number of digits

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part VI

Of the total 10 candidates participating in the election marathon from the Tripura West constituency of the state, here is a quick preview of the financial assets (and many more) of the 6 contestants which are in the fray. The number of digits presumably speaks a lot about them.

Arun Chandra Bhaumik (Age 63)
All India Trinamool Congress, Tripura West

Cash : Rs. 15, 000 (self)
Spouse : Rs. 10, 000

Financial instruments:

Rs. 10 lakh (LIC), Rs. 3, 50,000 (Fixed Deposit)
Deposits in banks, financial institutions and non-banking financial companies: Rs. 98, 801 (UCO Bank), Rs. 4,102 (SBI), Rs. 14, 780 (Tripura Gramin Bank), Rs. 7890 (T.Co-op)

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: 0.33 acres
Current market value: Rs. 75,000
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential): Rs. 30,00,000
Houses/ Apartments : Rs. 1,85,000

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:

School Final from Julaibari Class XII School in the year 1965
BA from Belonia College in the 1969
MA from Rabindra Bharati University in the year 1974
LLB from Calcutta University in the year 1974

Sudip Roy Barman (Age 45)
Indian National Congress, Tripura West

Cash: Rs. 65,000
Spouse: Rs. 45,000

Financial instruments:

Rs. 2,73,300 (Vijaya Bank)
Rs. 34,789 (SBI)
Rs. 1 Lakh (RBI Bond)
Rs. 2,00,000 (UTI-ETS Plan)
Rs. 3, 10,000 (NSC)
Rs. 1,00,000 sum assured (LIC, Rs. 6409 premium / Yr)
Rs. 3,00,000 sum assured (LIC, Rs. 23329 premium / Yr)
Rs. 5,00,000 sum assured (LIC, Rs. 8800 premium / Qly)
Rs. 722126.40 sum assured (Birla Sun Life Policy, Rs. 10326 premium / Qly)
Rs. 5,00,000 sum assured (Aviva Life Insurance, Rs. 50,000 premium / Yly)
Rs. 4,50,000 (Investment in Share)
Rs. 20,00, 000 (Fixed Deposit Punjab National Bank)
Rs, 5,00,000 (Fixed Deposit Canara Bank)
Jewellery (Rs. 1407473)

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land:
0.98 acre (Rs. 1, 25, 000, writ petition pending)
1.34 acre (Rs. 1, 00, 000, writ petition pending)

Non-agricultural land:

Rs. 1541667 (Barjala), Rs. 275080. (Rajarhat-HIDCO)
Current market value:

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:
BE (Tripura University, 1989)
LLB (Tripura University, 1992)

Khagen Das (Age 71)
Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tripura West

Cash: Rs. 12,000
Spouse: Rs. 3,000

Financial instruments:

Rs. 1,00,000+1,00,000+Rs. 50,000+ Rs. 25,000 (SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 64,355 (UCO Bank, Agartala)
Rs. 5,00, 320 (SBI, Parliament House Branch)
Rs. 5,00, 000 + Rs. 99,372. 96 (Joint Deposit with Spouse)

Details of assets:

Movable : Rs. 14,51, 047.96
Immovable : NIL

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:

MCom (Calcutta University, 1962)
BCom (Calcutta University, 1959)
Intermediate (Calcutta University, 1957)
Matriculation (Payalgacha High School, 1955)

Nilmani Deb (Age 55)
Bharatiya Janata Party, Tripura West

Cash: Rs. 12,000
Spouse: Rs. 3,000

Financial instruments:
Rs. 1,00,000+1,00,000+Rs. 50,000+ Rs. 25,000 (SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 64,355 (UCO Bank, Agartala)
Rs. 5,00, 320 (SBI, Parliament House Branch)
Rs. 5,00, 000 + Rs. 99,372. 96 (Joint Deposit with Spouse)

Details of assets:
Movable : –
Immovable : Rs. 28,02,287

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:

BA (Calcutta University, 1974)
Higher Secondary (West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Calcutta, 1971)

Sanjib Dey (Age 32)
Nationalist Congress Party, Tripura West

Cash : Rs. 30, 000

Financial instruments: Rs. 500 (Deposit in Bank)
Jewellery: Rs. 15,000 (with spouse)

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential): NIL

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:

Madhyamik (Berimura HS School, 1994)
Diploma in Mech. Engg. (Polytechnic Institute, Narsingarh, 2001)
One Year Apprenticeship Training (SDO, Mechanical Sub-Division No.1, 2002)

Parth Karmakar (Age 40)
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)(Liberation), Tripura West

Cash: Rs. 10, 000

Details of immovable assets: NIL

Agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential): NIL

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification: 

HS (+2) Passed (from Udaipur Ramesh HS School in 1988)

Coming Up: Tripura East constituency: Cash-rich Vs Cash-less

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What stand the national political parties are taking on insurgency, infiltration and on minorities/ OBC?

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part V

THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

The Indian National Congress became the nation’s dominant political party after independence in 1947. It returned to the 14th Lok Sabha as the single largest party after 8 years in the opposition. The party is currently the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition. It is the only party to get more than 100 million votes in the past two general elections (1999, 2004). The manifesto of the Indian National Congress for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections provided the foundation for the National Common Minimum Programme that formed the basis of governance during the past five years.

Party 2009 Manifesto 

On Terrorism/Insurgency:

• The party stands for zero tolerance policy and for an intelligent foreign policy
• It has already initiated the process of equipping the police and other specialist security forces with the latest weapons and technology to meet terrorism threat
• Will raise specialist battalions and positioned them in key locations across the country

Infiltration:

To check infiltration, the party will provide every Indian with a unique identity card after the publication of the national population register in the year 2011

Minorities/OBC:

• It stands for providing reservations for OBC students in all professional institutions
• It initiated measures to enhance scholarships for schedule castes, schedule tribes, minorities and OBC’s to pursue college and university education

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also a major political party of India. It is designed to represent the country’s majority community and centre-right in nature. The BJP was in power in alliance with several other parties from 1998 to 2004, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister and Lal Krishna Advani as his deputy. It was the biggest constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which currently is in the opposition.

The party supports conservative social policies, self-reliance, robust economic growth, foreign policy driven by a nationalist agenda, and strong national defense. The party has a strong relation with the Sangh Parivar, in which the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh plays a leading role.
The BJP is contesting the 2009 15th Lok Sabha election. It stands for three goals: GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENT and SECURITY.

Party 2009 Manifesto 

Terrorism/Insurgency:

• Revive the anti-terror mechanism
• Improve upon POTA to ensure it is more effective as an instrument of deterrence and a tool to prosecute offenders without innocent people being harassed; and, strengthen the operational role of the National Investigating Agency
• Completely revamp the internal and external intelligence agencies and review the existing system of coordination, convergence and dissemination of intelligence inputs
• A Digital Security Agency will be set up to deal with cyber warfare, cyber counter terrorism, and cyber security of national digital assets
• Coercive measures, including diplomacy, will be used to deal with countries which promote cross-border terrorism
• Coastal security will be strengthened for better patrolling of Indian waters and preventing terrorists from taking the sea route to enter India. A National Maritime Authority will be set up to coordinate coastal security

Infiltration:

• Will launch a massive programme to detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants
• Will review and improve border management. Punitive measures will be introduced to block illegal immigration
• The BJP will launch an innovative programme to establish a countrywide system of multipurpose national identity cards for tracking illegal immigration and thereby to ensure national security, correct welfare delivery, accurate tax collection, financial inclusion and voter registration

OBC: 

• The BJP is committed to the principle of Social Justice (Samajik Nyay) and Samajik Samarasata (Social Harmony).
• Will boost opportunities for entrepreneurship and commerce among Dalits, OBCs and other deprived sections of Indian society
• An ‘Extremely Backward Communities Development Bank’ will be set up for promoting skill enhancement through learn-and-earn schemes for their upliftment
• Will introduce education and job quotas on the basis of economic criteria for all economically weaker sections of society other than Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs, who will continue to enjoy quota benefits

Minorities:

• Will implement a set of policies committed to a massive expansion of modern education among Muslims, particularly for the girl child, through a new nationwide network of schools, in a public-private partnership programme
• Will provide capital assistance in new educational projects, both for basic and technical education, in low-income minority areas. Each project will be vetted for viability by a team of professionals within a maximum of six months
• The Ministry of Minority Affairs will be revitalized into a hub for economic projects specifically targeted towards employment creation. There will be special emphasis on crafts and small-scale industries that have been traditional employers of minorities

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST)

The CPI (M) advocates an alternative political platform to form a non-Congress, non-BJP, alternative secular government. In 2004 election, the CPI (M) and the left parties extended support to the Congress – led UPA coalition to form a secular government at the center with the understanding that the UPA Government will implement it’s own Common Minimum Programme (CMP) but on July 9, 2008, it withdrew support from the UPA government after the Government decided to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The CPI (M) stands for increased allocations in agriculture, education and health. It emphasizes the pursuit of an independent foreign policy.

Party 2009 Manifesto 

Terrorism/Insurgency:

• Revamping the intelligence machinery and enhanced coordination between security and intelligence agencies
• The Federal Investigating Agency functioning without violating the federal structure and ensuring association of State Governments for investigation within a particular State
• Modernisation of the Police forces
• Strengthening of the coastal security system
• Amending the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to remove draconian provisions like detention without bail for 180 days, three years imprisonment for withholding information

Infiltration:

• Emphasizes border fencing to be completed expeditiously

OBC/Minorities:

• Ensuring proper implementation of 27% OBC reservation in Central educational institutions; Extending OBC reservation to all private educational institutions
• Strengthening the National Commission for Backward Classes
• Simplifying procedures for issuing OBC certificates
• Forming an Equal Opportunity Commission with adequate powers to redress discrimination against minorities
• Formulating a sub-plan for the Muslim minorities to implement Sachar Committee recommendations
• Special initiatives in the sphere of employment, education and health to be undertaken targeting districts where the Muslim population is concentrated
• Earmarking 15% of priority sector lending by banks for the Muslims; subsidised credit to be ensured for the self-employed Muslim youth
• Special emphasis to be laid on the education of Muslim girls
• Promoting the teaching of Urdu in schools

Coming Up: 

Congress (I), BJP, CPI (M), NCP contestants from Tripura West; what is their status on assets, liabilities, criminal cases

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Bishnupriya Manipuri artists performed in the Rising Day of 14 Bn BSF at Kailasaher

A troupe of Bishnupriya Manipuri music artistes led by Dr Sushanta Sinha showcased their talent on the Rising Day of the 14 Battalion of the Border Security Force, the world’s largest paramilitary Force, on April 1, 2009 at Rangrung Tea Estate, Kailasaher, Tripura. 

In the well-attended programme, civilians adjacent with BSF officials enjoyed the musical renditions by Kailasaher-based Bishnupriya Manipuri artists. They sung patriotic as well as oldie-goldie Hindi songs. 

The song “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon…” sung by Nabanita Sinha where it swept the sentinels of the border into patriotic fervour; Babita Rajkumari with Bhupen Hazarika’s “dil hoom hoom kare …”, Subarna Sinha’s “O Maji Re…” , “Dolna Dolna…” by Aditi Sinha, were able to stole the show with their performance. 

Kuhali Sinha rendered the “Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya…” hymn, and BK Sinha read one of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem. 

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Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura was established in 1872

Prashanta Kilikdar, Headmaster, Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura is a person who didn’t switch off his mobile when a Delhi mobile number was flashing intermittently for many days. He was patient, enthusiastic receiving each and every call. Test of his patience came very visible when he answered all the minute queries put forward by the interviewee. 

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

The Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura is not a school of this day. The history of the school dates back to 19th century, when India was still in the clutches of British Raj and the present State was nowhere in the political map. One can imagine the state of education in those days. 

But it didn’t deter people to embrace the importance of education that it brings to the society. The grand foresight that education is necessary for the overall development of an individual and it is instrumental to the upliftment of any society, was well understood by Rudra Singha. A Bishnupriya Manipuri, Rudra Singha, donated 2.37 acre of land in 1872 to the establishment of a school which is now named after him and it stands as a beacon guiding generations after generations since its inception. 

The double-storey school recently organised the women Northeast Football Tournament and Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha (NBMM) Platinum Jubilee. Those who attended the Platinum Jubilee celebration were awestruck seeing the level of maintenance that is being followed by the school. The Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School bestows a playground and a beautiful garden.

Facility of bathroom is one aspect where Indian schools lag behind, but the school again scores the point here. It has a clean, well maintained bathroom for boys and girls. The pathetic state of bathroom facility in schools in India is well known. Reports do appear in media where students read girls abstain from school only due to lack of this facility. 

Location of the school, to be precise the area in which a school comes, is one determining factor on which a status of any school is given preference and given value. And it goes to the neighbourhood-population where the school is situated. “The school is situated in an area where the Bishnupriya Manipuri community accounts for 75-80 per cent of the total populace” said Kilikdar. 

Students from Guldharpur, Bhagabannagar, Gaunagar, Icchabpur, and Deorachhara gram panchayats take admission in the school, said Samar Sinha, who teaches geography in the school.

Being in the Bishnupriya Manipuri predominant area is very visible in its student enrollment. Over 80 per cent of the students studying in the school are Bishnupriya Manipuri, said Kilikdar. The school has morning and noon shifts. 

The Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School has classes from Class I to Class XII. The first batch of Class XII (Arts stream) would be passing this academic year. Enrollment of girls in the school is something that the education fraternity of the country should take note of it. 

In Class XI, the number of boys and girls is 15 each. The ratio of boys and the girls which runs equal from Class VI to Class XII is a remarkable achievement of the school. And the credit must go to the parents of the nearby areas who understand the importance of girl’s education as they are with their boys’ education. According to Ministry of Human Resource Development report (as on 30.9.2004), the dropout rates in Class I-X is 60.41 percent in boys, and 63. 88 per cent in girls. 

However, taking into account the percentage of students passing the Class X examination from the school, if it has not touched the magic 100 per cent result, it has not been poorer either. In 2006, 72 % of the 42 students who appeared in the exam were able to get through the exam. Four students secured First Division. 

In 2007, the Class X result went to a new height. Out of 45 students who sat in the exam, 96 % of students were declared pass. In 2008, the passing result came down to 82.35 per cent. 34 students appeared in the matriculation exam. 

Like any other government school of the country, the Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura is not unscathed with problems plaguing it. In the morning shift (Class I – V) only 5 teachers are teaching the students, whereas in the noon shift (Class VI – XII) it is 17, Kilikdar said. The dismal Pupil-Teacher ratio is 33 in Pre-degree junior colleges/ Hr. Sec. Schools, as on 30.9.2004 Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, report said. 

Prashanta Kilikdar confirmation that the school is facing scarcity of teachers in all the classes, calls for immediate attention and call for action from the stakeholders of State’s education. Else the school which has been the precursor of change for the people living in the area and for the State will loose its sheen to the English-medium schools that have popped up in the past couple years. 

It is remorseful for all of us that the walls of the century-old school have started crumbling and cracks have started appearing in it. Going by the records of students who have come out with flying colours in the matric exam securing First Division, it is minimal. In the academic year 2007 and 2008, only one student secured First Division and in 2006 it was mere 4. 

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Watch the photos of Mahasabha meet in Tripura

The Platinum Jubilee of Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha (NBMM) held at Kailasahar, North Tripura on February 13, 14 and 15, was organised at a “grand” scale. Participation of the people in the conference was “euphoric”. 

Can you visualize the words “grand” and “euphoric” used above with the 43rd conference of Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha? Perhaps, not! 

Since those who were present there can only understand and appreciate the words “grand” and “euphoric”. Rest, who were not at the place, like most of us, can’t have an affinity to the event or to these words. For them the words are hollow and insipid. Truth is that, it is not. 

So, coming to the rescue of those who haven’t been at this event, a visual representation can definitely point out to the nature it was carried out. 

The blog comes up with a string of photos depicting the whole event. 

The first slide is a collage of all the photos captured in “2009” shape highlighting that the event had taken place in the year 2009. The second photo and many, one could see, the football of people assembled at the venue. These photos bring forth the fact that the event was indeed organised in a grand manner and the audience went berserk and euphoric. 

Related articles:

Mahasabha Election: Debendra Kr Sinha, Uday Sinha re-elected President, Secretary General posts – THURSDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2009

Bishnupriya Manipuri demand introduction of language, appointment of language teachers, establishment of Devolopment Council – FRIDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2009

A Brief History of Mahasabha from 1932 to 2009 – THURSDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2009

Reasons for our survival: disciplined food habits, aachar and wearing kathi

The small geographically scattered Bishnupriya Manipuri community has been able to preserve its unique socio-cultural identity because of its innate qualities like disciplined food habits, purified behaviour (aachar) and by wearing kathi, said CK Sinha while addressing a congregation of Bishnupriya Manipuri people living in Delhi on March 8, 2009. 

CK Sinha from Kailasaher, Tripura visited Delhi after presenting a paper “Indian Civilization through the Millennia” in an international conference held at Shobit University, Hastinapur Research Institute on February 27-28, 2009. 

The community that would have gone vanished, “anthropologically extinct” he said, “it is due to three reasons” that the community still carries the ancestral heritage magnificently. They still possess the same solid idealistic belief from the core of their heart.

No calamities through centuries could damage their ideology nor could any attraction. Even today when all the races have been contaminated either by greed or by external fascination the population of Bishnupriya Manipuris has remained intact. 

Bishnupriya Manipuris live in the land of the Mahabharata, Hastinapur, in their mental map, the unique element seen in our people by way of inheritance does speak about their deep hereditary evidence of Hastinapur culture, he said. 

He spoke on the Holy book Gita and called for rendition of the Holy Scripture. CK Sinha was accompanied by Madhavlal Sinha and Swapan Sinha. 

The congregation took place at Lado Sarai, New Delhi. 

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