The Swatantra Tripura Committee was a coordination of political forces in

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, that struggled against the integration of Tripura into the state of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. The campaign was active 1955-1956. The committee was founded at meeting in Hotel Tripur,

Agartala Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...

, 8 October 1955. The organization had 62 members at the time of its foundation. The committee was led by an Executive Committee, Swarnakamal Roy was its president and Dasarath Deb its general secretary. The Swatantra Tripura Committee had been formed with the backdrop of rumours that the

States Reorganisation Commission The States Reorganisation Commission of India (SRC) constituted by the Central Government of India in December 1953 to recommend the reorganization of state boundaries. In September 1955, after two years of study, the Commission, comprising Just ...

would propose that Tripura be annexed to the state of Assam. On 10 October 1955, the rumour became an official fact, as the SRC made its recommendations public. The founders of the Swatantra Tripura Committee argued that such a merger would have been ‘undemocratic’ and ‘illogical’. Moreover, the committee argued that Tripura should be an entity of its own within the Indian Union and have its own legislative assembly. Politically, the committee was backed up by the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded in 1952 when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the ...

. The Tripura organization of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

had been invited to take part in the founding of the committee, but they stayed aloof. On 11 October 1955, the committee organized a

hartal Hartal () is a term in many Languages of India, Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often ...

(general strike) in Agartala. In the evening, a manifestation was held. Nripen Chakroborthy, a speaker at the public meeting, gave a call to build Swatantra Tripura Committee branches throughout Tripura. On 4 November 1955, the Union Home Minister G .B. Pant visited Agartala. On 5 November 1955 the Swatantra Tripura Committee mobilized a mass protest with some 100,000 participants. Deb and Roy spoke at the rally. During his visit, Pant conveyed that the reorganization issue had not yet been decided and that the Congress party should not be criticized for the recommendations of the SRC.Mohanta, Bijan. ''Tripura – In the light of socio-political movements since 1945''.

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

: Progressive Publishers, 2004. p. 111 The Swatantra Tripura Committee organized a conference in Agartala on 6 November 1955, in which representatives from Halam, Kuki, Tripuri,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

communities took part. The conference resolved that subdivision-level conferences of the Swatantra Tripura Committee should be held in every subdivision of Tripura within one month. The issue was settled in July 1956, as the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

decided to retain Tripura as a separate entity.Mohanta, Bijan. ''Tripura – In the light of socio-political movements since 1945''.

: Progressive Publishers, 2004. p. 114

References

{{reflist Organisations based in Tripura Political organizations established in 1955 Organizations disestablished in 1956 1955 establishments in Assam 1956 disestablishments in India Political organisations based in India