BJP ally Tipra Motha announces rally to protest attacks on minorities in Bangladesh

Agartala: Tipra Motha chief Pradyot Debbarma said his party, an ally of the BJP, will organise a rally on September 26 to protest the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh.

Debbarma made the announcement on Saturday after the party's youth wing YTF gave a deputation to the Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Agartala, seeking the safety of minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

"This is not the first time that minorities, including Bengali Hindus and indigenous people, were attacked after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government in Bangladesh. Minorities were attacked in Noakhali and Comilla districts too. Maharaja Bir Chandra Library was set on fire and books that were 300 years old were gutted," he said.

Urging the Centre to take up the issue, Debbarma said the time has come to raise it at the United Nations.

"We will stage a massive rally to protest the attack on minorities in Bangladesh on September 26. Our youth organisation YTF will also join the rally to raise voice against the atrocities in the neighbouring country," he said.

Debbarma alleged that people of minority communities who have been living in Bangladesh for hundreds of years were being attacked in a systematic way so that their land could be grabbed.

Tipra Motha is a part of the BJP-led government in Tripura, which shares a border with Bangladesh.