'Only time will tell how sincere the UPA government is'

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in an exclusive interview with Hardnews

Ashis Biswas Kolkata
One can sense  the  fundamental dilemma facing  the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]) Chief Minister on the subject of Congress-ruled centre while talking to Manik Sarkar, Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tripura. In a candid interview with Hardnews, Sarkar was  caught in three different moods: critical about the centre's role in the economic development of his state and the northeast; non-committal about the centre's  response towards the long-standing demands made by Tripura; and supportive of  Delhi only on the question of fighting Indian insurgents operating from Bangladesh.

Not quite the stuff one would have expected to hear from the leader of a party that supports the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. More warmth would have been in order. However, it is common knowledge that relations between the CPI(M) and the Congress have been strained ever since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a piece of his mind to West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee over left  protests against US air exercises at the Kalaikunda base. Subsequent developments like the agitation over the proposed privatisation and expansion of Mumbai and Delhi airports led to more differences. 

And all this in the background of the coming assembly polls in West Bengal, where the CPI (M) and Congress remain bitter opponents. Both parties will be hard put to explain why they remain enemies at the state level, yet allies at the apex level. The Trinamul Congress allegation that both parties will be aiming at the decimation of the smaller opposition parties will be hard to counter.

On Tripura, Sarkar treads on surer ground. The indices of economic performance are positive, the state has ample reserves of gas (estimated at 2.6 trillion cubic feet), and kidnappings are fewer.
Excerpts

How is the law and order situation in Tripura at present?
There was never any problem regarding common crimes such as thefts or dacoities, which are under control. Insurgency, of course, is a different matter. I am happy to say that things are slowly improving. There are concrete signs of improvement: the number of incidents has come down, there are fewer kidnappings and above all, cadres of the outlawed NLFT and the ATTF insurgent organisations have surrendered in significant numbers. Forcible cash collections too are down.

Tripura used to report around 1,200 kidnappings a year. How many occur now?
I can't give exact figures. But the important thing is that nowadays we have been able to rescue many people, which did not happen earlier. There are signs of a better intelligence network, better public response and the weakening of insurgents.

Does the centre co-operate with the state in its battle against insurgency?
Yes, by and large. Out of the 856 kilometre border with Bangladesh, 500 km have been fenced and work on the remaining parts too must be completed. We are trying to combat insurgency through a greater rapport between people and security forces.

What about the Bangladesh factor?
It is common knowledge that Bangladesh allows insurgents to operate out of its territory. So many insurgent camps are run from there, close to Chittagong and other areas. We know of them, the whole world knows, yet Dhaka keeps denying their presence. Are we so naive that we will accept their version?

Bangladesh says that information on such matters provided by India is not usually correct?
It is not so simple. I have personally given details about specific location of camps, movements of insurgents, details about arms they purchase and carry, and seizures of truckloads of weapons meant for use against India several times, to the Indian government, which has informed them. I might tell you that informally even Bangladeshi leaders concede that and say that some of their territories are under such dense forests that they remain inaccessible to the government. But they will never admit this in public. These things cannot happen without official connivance in Bangladesh, and the ISI and the US too have a role to play.

How do you assess the economic prospects of Tripura now that massive gas reserves have been found?
Naturally, we are optimistic. In terms of exploration strike success, at 50 per cent, Tripura has the best record in the region. Yet only some time ago, the ONGC and other companies were complaining that their search was useless, only valuable equipment were being blocked.  Now
the ONGC is building a 1,000 MW power plant and NEEPCO another plant of 84
MW capacity.

Obviously Tripura cannot use all this energy; it has to export some of it?
First we must assess how much we need for ourselves, and this is what the ONGC and others will tell us. At the moment, our power requirements are around 150\160 MWs, but we get only around 100\105. So there is a shortage to overcome and demands might go up to about 350 MW very soon.

Does this mean you anticipate major economic developments in the near future?
Well, there is certainly a lot more interest from investors and entrepreneurs now, and some of them are quite sincere. We are attracting investors, although there is not much interest from foreign sources yet. Besides, we are doing fairly well in terms of economic performance. Over the last five years, there has been an 80 per cent increase in the number of manufacturing units and commercial establishments, and a GSDP increase of 7.8 per cent. Also, since 1998, we have not had to take recourse to overdrafts from the centre even for a day. Compare that with other states in the region. All this in the midst of a raging insurgency and all sorts of problems. However, we are not complacent, much remains to be done.

But the centre has a special economic package for the northeast these days.
What package? The prime minister has announced Rs 6000 crore only for Assam, nothing for us. Yet when he addressed a meeting here recently, he almost spoke our script when it came to our demands for development. We would very much appreciate some urgent, major assistance in building our infrastructure, better road-rail and air links with the rest of India. We need land for industries, so the Reserve Forests Act needs to be amended. We can arrange for afforestation in the open spaces to
preserve our environment, but the centre must help us. All this is just too big for any state government.

But surely things should be easier now that you have a friendly government at the centre?
All I can say is that the centre does not say no to our demands which are after all old and justified. But how sincere they are, only time will tell. I would stress only one thing: the centre must concentrate on the development of Tripura and the northeast in view of the strategic and economic importance of the region, which has five international borders, is a major resource area and is the gateway to south east Asia. There has been much delay, which has helped insurgents grow over the years and more delay will only help them further.