"India will face national security problem if infiltration continues": Pradyot Manikya demands Bihar-like SIR in Tripura

New Delhi [India], September 17 (ANI): Tipra Motha Party founder and leader Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma emphasised the need to tackle the issue of infiltration in Northeast India, including in Tripura. He warned that if unchecked, illegal immigration could lead to a national security crisis and an existential threat to native communities.
Speaking with ANI, he called for a Bihar-like Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters' list in Tripura to address voter list integrity, adding that the Northeast is a key frontier; protecting it is crucial for India's security.
"It is in the interest of India to protect the Northeast because the Northeast is the frontier. And from a national security point of view, we have to do everything possible to protect the people of the Northeast. And we are not against. So it's not just cultural protection. It's also actually existential now," he told ANI.
Notably, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and other Northeastern states have small indigenous populations that are vulnerable to demographic shifts.
"It's affecting Tripura a lot. People are changing their first names, and they're coming in, making their Aadhaar cards. They speak the same language. So you can't identify. They come in a sari. They come with a tikka on their head. The first name, you gave something else. You came, got the Aadhaar card, and got the voter ID. We don't think about the security of the country. You're going to have a national security problem if this continues," said Tipra Motha Party founder.
Pradyot Manikya also highlighted infiltrators becoming landowners, MLAs, and officials could lead to natives becoming minorities in their own land.
"Tripura has a very small population. We, Tiprasas, are only 1.5 lakh people; 15 lakh people in Arunachal have a very small population. Meghalaya, Khasis, Garos, Jayantias, very small population. Deemasas, Bodo, small population. When you allow people to come in, very soon they become landowners, they get all the documents, they become MLAs, they become officers, and then slowly and steadily we become minorities in our own land," said Pradyot.
To address the existential threat to native communities due to illegal immigration, Pradyot met the Election Commission of India, pushing for SIR nationwide, criticising the opposition for allegedly protecting vote banks and praising Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor for raising valid points on SIR.
"We went to the Election Commission and said SIR should be implemented across India. Those who are opposing SIR, I understand that many people may have doubts. My friend Prashant Kishore, whom I follow regularly, raises some very valid questions and presents some valid points. Show them (Opposition) ECI's website, how many people's names have been deleted, what their names are, and how many people have been added. But, because you (Opposition) are afraid to lose your vote bank, you will not go through this process. It is dangerous, and in the Northeast, our population is very small. Mizoram has a very small population," said Pradyot.
He also praised Assam's eviction drives under CM Himanta Biswa Sarma; Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland are taking steps, while expressing concern that Tripura hasn't acted yet. The Tipra Motha chief said that the Eastern corridor is used by Bangladeshis, Myanmar nationals, and Rohingyas to illegaly enter India's Northeastern states.
"Every day, in Tripura, you open the newspaper, and 12 people are caught at the railway station. Somewhere, you see, 20 people are caught here. Now, for every 10, 15, 20 people being caught in Tripura, hundreds and hundreds are actually crossing over because the borders are porous. Hemant Biswa Sarma is doing an eviction drive. In Nagaland, last week, 200 cars and trucks of illegal migrants were entering Dimapur. The Nagaland police had to stop them," Pradyot said.
"Tell me why at 2 o'clock at night, 200 trucks filled with illegal immigrants are entering Dimapur because they are being evicted from Assam. So Nagaland has created a mechanism to stop them from entering. Meghalaya has done it. Mizoram has done it. In Tripura, no such steps have been taken yet," he added.
He mentioned that the infiltrators, especially Rohingyas, enter India either from Myanmar or from the Chittagong hill tracks.
"But, see, SIR, in Bihar, you've seen in the newspaper reports, that people are turning up from Bangladesh, from Burma, they've turned up. Nepal, of course, I can understand that there's a border, so they can come from Nepal. How did people from Myanmar reach Bihar? Did they come through Sri Lanka? No. They have come through the east--the eastern corridor. People from Bangladesh have entered Bihar. They have come through the eastern corridor. You are talking about the Rohingyas now. From Myanmar, only they would have come. They would have come from Myanmar. They can also come from the Chittagong hill tracks. Because they are in the Arakan belt. They are there. Near the Cox Bazar side. And they are entering from the Northeast," Pradyot said.
Pradyot expresses concern that illegal migrants evicted from Assam might enter Tripura, stay briefly, obtain Aadhaar cards, and then either return to Assam, register as voters in Tripura, or migrate to other states, such as Haryana, Maharashtra, or Delhi, for work. (ANI)