Bidya Chandra Debbarma (11 April 1916, Behalabari – 18 June 2010,

Agartala Agartala () is the capital city of the Indian state of Tripura, and is one of the largest cities in northeast India. The city is governed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation. The city is the seat of the Government of Tripura. It is located on ...

) was a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

politician from the

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

n state of

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the eas ...

. A prominent leader of the communist movement in Tripura, Debbarma spent a total of nine years in jail and 13 years as an underground activist. A six-time state assembly member and minister in the state government, Debbarma never lost any election he contested.

Biography

Debbarma grew up in a tribal farmers family in rural Tripura. He could not continue his schooling beyond class VII. He later joined the Royal Army of Tripura, the armed forces of the then monarchy that ruled Tripura. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Debbarma had protested against the Tripura army helping British forces, and was transferred to administrative non-combatant duties as a disciplinary measure. When reform-oriented forces organized the Janashiksha Samity ('People's Education Society') in 1945, Debbarma became secretly associated with the movement. He was caught, and interned at Khowai jail where he was subjected to torture. A death sentence was issued against him by the Tripura government, but never executed. Debbarma became an organiser of the Janashiksha Samity, and mobilised protest activities against the government of Tripura. He also took part in the founding of the

Ganamukti Parishad Ganamukti Parishad (Bengali for 'Tripura State Indigenous People's Liberation Council') is a left-wing movement working amongst the Tripuri peoples of Tripura, in north-eastern India. It is affiliated with Communist Party of India (Marxist) as it ...

('People's Liberation Council') movement. Debbarma became a member of the Communist Party of India. He was arrested during the 1962

Sino-Indian war The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...

. When the Communist Party was divided in 1964, he took the side of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

and was elected to the Tripura state committee of the CPI(M). He would remain a CPI(M) Tripura State Committee member until his death. Moreover, he served as the vice president of the Ganamukti Parishad (the tribal mass organisation of CPI(M) in Tripura). Debbarma again faced arrests in 1965 (during the

Indo-Pakistani War Since the Partition of British India in 1947 and subsequent creation of the dominions of India and Pakistan, the two countries have been involved in a number of wars, conflicts, and military standoffs. A long-running dispute over Kashmir and ...

), 1968, 1973 (during the food movement) and 1975 (during the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

, when he was imprisoned for 21 months). Debbarma was a member of the

state legislative assembly between 1967 and 1993, being elected six consecutive times. When the CPI(M)-

Congress for Democracy The Congress for Democracy (CFD) was an Indian political party founded in 1977 by Jagjivan Ram. It was formed after Jagjivan Ram, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, and Nandini Satpathy left the Indian National Congress of Indira Gandhi and denounced h ...

coalition government was formed in 1977, Debbarma was named Minister in charge of tribal welfare. During his later years, he retired from active politics due to ill health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debbarma, Bidya 1916 births 2010 deaths Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Tripura Indian prisoners and detainees Tripuri people People from Agartala Tripura MLAs 1967–1972 Tripura MLAs 1972–1977 Tripura MLAs 1977–1983 Tripura MLAs 1983–1988 Tripura MLAs 1988–1993 Tripura MLAs 1993–1998 Leaders of the Opposition in Tripura