Tipra Motha Party founder and leader Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma has raised alarms over unchecked infiltration in Northeast India, warning that continued illegal immigration could pose a national security threat and endanger native communities. He has urged authorities to implement a Bihar-like Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in Tripura to safeguard electoral integrity and protect the region’s demographic balance.
Pradyot, Tripura's royal scion, emphasised the strategic significance of the Northeast. "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 said.
Pradyot highlighted the demographic vulnerabilities of Tripura and other Northeastern states, where indigenous populations are small. "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," he said.
He further explained the difficulty in identifying infiltrators, noting that they often adopt local customs, names, and official documentation. "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," he said.
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"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," he added.
The Tipra Motha chief praised Assam’s eviction drives under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and noted that similar measures are underway in Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland. He expressed concern that Tripura has yet to take effective steps, citing porous borders used by Bangladeshis, Myanmar nationals, and Rohingyas to enter Northeastern states illegally. "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," he said.
Pradyot detailed the routes of infiltration, particularly from Bangladesh and Myanmar via the eastern corridor and Chittagong hill tracks, warning that migrants evicted from Assam may temporarily settle in Tripura, acquire official documents, and later migrate to other states for work. "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 can also come from the Chittagong hill tracks," he said.
Pradyot concluded that urgent action, including SIR implementation, is necessary to protect indigenous populations and maintain national security in the Northeast.
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