Former Tripura PCC chief and royal scion of the state, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Deb Burman, on Tuesday announced the name of his apolitical party or organisation, The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA), which will work to protect the rights of the indigenous people of the state.

Deb Burman told The Telegraph, “Rumours were being floated that I am going to launch a political party, which are absolutely false. Today I have announced the launch of an organisation, which will be known as The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA). It is not a political party. It aims to uplift the indigenous people in the field of empowering them socially, politically, culturally and in the field of health and education.”

He added that the organisation will also work for the people of the indigenous community and for their rights.

The royal scion said a meeting was held at Ujjayanta Palace with indigenous leaders and they decided to hold a peaceful movement against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, from January 8.

“We have decided to protest peacefully by not harming anyone or making the protest communal.

We shall form committees and the protest is going to start from the block and booth levels. We will also take out rallies and not stage any road blockades, which inconvenience common people. Our protest is not against any community, language or any religion,” he said.

The leader added that January 8 was the day when Tripura police had opened fire on protesters during a demonstration by the Tripura Students Federation (TSF) at Madhavbari.

They would kick off the protests on the same day every year, he added.

He also said Union home minister Amit Shah had held a meeting with them in New Delhi but nothing concrete had come out of it.

“A notice was sent to the government. However, the case is pending in the Supreme Court. When protests against the CAA are under way across the nation, how could we sit and watch?” he asked.