The banned National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT) has accused East Tripura MP Rebati Tripura of betraying the indigenous people of the state by supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and threatened to socially boycott him.

A letter written to the MP and signed by NLFT secretary general D. Uomthai said illegal immigrants were “tearing apart” the lives, culture, economy, polity and society of tribals in the state. It claimed that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act had fails to address the roots of political conflict in Tripura and had aggravated the wounds of ethnic strife. It alleged that the MP’s vote in favour of the bill was quid pro quo or to benefit himself.

“Your vote in the Lok Sabha on December 10, 2019, in favour of CAB, although a single vote would not have changed the outcome, in principle is considered to constitute a vote to let an outside voice dictate our daily lives. The Boroks of the state, particularly the voters of East Tripura Lok Sabha constituency, have every right to ask you why, in your conduct as MP, you have failed to preserve, protect and defend the aspirations of the people and abused the mandate, faith and trust reposed in you?” it said.

The NLFT also asked the MP why he should not be socially boycotted and declared unfit to hold and enjoy any office of honour in the state.

The letter said the Boroks think Parliament is imposing the burden of illegal migrants on the state. The rights of the Boroks to oppose it as citizens of the state have been repeatedly and flagrantly violated. The letter claimed that chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb is an “infiltrator” himself.

“When the man tasked with ensuring the well-being of all the citizens in the country talks about the suffering and agony of the illegal immigrants in Parliament in support of CAB, he should have paid equal attention to the suffering caused by these very immigrants to other citizens, particularly in a small state in Tripura where the concentration of infiltrators is the highest and the state’s chief minister is one of them. This is not justice. This is hypocrisy and bias,” the letter read.

The outfit appreciated Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Deb Burman’s plea to exclude Tripura and the rest of the Northeast from CAA.

Reacting to the NLFT letter, the MP said he had not betrayed anyone and that he had spoken for development of Tripura Autonomous District Council. “I have and am still working on the welfare of our tribal people,” he said, adding that he would soon take up the matter with the chief minister.