Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl

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Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl
Hrangkhawl in 2025
1st President of TIPRA Motha Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
2021
Preceded byOffice Established
Member, Administrative Reforms Committee of TTAADC
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 June 2021
Preceded byOffice Established
Member of Legislative Assembly
In office
1998–2013
Preceded byHasmai Reang
Succeeded byDiba Chandra Hrangkhawl
ConstituencyKulai
Personal details
BornBijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl
(1946-01-25) 25 January 1946
Tripura, India
PartyTipra Motha Party
Other party
Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (2002–2021)
SpouseLinda Hrangkhawl
Children3 including Borkung Hrangkhawl
Committees
  • Member, Advisory of Administrative Reforms Committee, TTAADC Government (2021-present)
  • Member, Business Advisory Committee, Tripura Legislative Assembly (2008-2009)

Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl (born 25 January 1946) is the current president of the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA).[1] He is a three-time MLA and former leader of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT), a political party based in the Indian state of Tripura.[2]

Early life

Marriage and family

After finishing school in Shillong, Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl married Linda Hrangkhawl. The couple had a son Borkung Hrangkhawl and a daughter.[3] His son, Borkung, is a popular singer-songwriter who is celebrated across Northeast India. Hrangkhawl has acknowledged the support of his wife Linda on his political journey from the beginning, who has influenced him to keep striving for peace and the movement for the Indigenous people of Tripura.

I don't deny that Linda (his wife) influenced my decision to surrender...I have no hesitation to admit that she alone was 25 per cent responsible for this (the Tripura) accord.

Greater Tipraland Movement

On June 7, 2021, the INPT merged with the TIPRA. On 11 June 2021, Hrangkhawl was elected as the president of The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA), now the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) led by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma,[4] marking a milestone in his participation in the statehood movement for Greater Tipraland and for the Indigenous Tiprasa people.[5][6]

Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl addressing a mass gathering for Greater Tipraland at Astabal Ground, Agartala, Tripura on November 12, 2022.

Tripuri Nationalism leadership between 1978–1988

Hrangkhawl began his political career as an organising secretary in the ethno-nationalist Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti. He became the leader of the Tripuri Sena, the militant wing of TUJS. The Tripuri Sena was formed following the Left Front victory in 1977, and it engaged in physical combat against the left. The organization soon evolved into the Tripura National Volunteers.[7]

For ten years, 1978–1988, Hrangkhawl led an armed struggle as the leader of the TNV, which sought to expel the Bengali majority from Tripura. TNV soon became infamous for their campaign of ethnic cleansing in the rural areas of Tripura. In 1983 he expressed the political ambitions of TNV in the following words in a letter to the then-Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi:

Armed insurgency was necessary to reach your heart. Either you deport all foreign nationals who infiltrated into Tripura after 15 October 1947 or settle them anywhere in India other than Tripura... We demand a free Tripura.[8]

In 1988, the Tripura National Volunteers signed a peace treaty (the TNV Accord)[9] with the Government of India and Government of Tripura after which the TNV was converted into a political party.[10] The FNV later merged with the INPT.[11]

Political career

After signing the TNV Accord in 1988, Bijoy Hrangkhawl joined mainstream politics with The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT).[12] He oversaw the implementation of the agreement and the reservation of three more seats for the Indigenous Tiprasa people in the Tripura Assembly.

Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwal inaugurating the photo exhibition stall on Bharat Nirman and Development initiative in North East, organised by DAVP, at Manughat, Dhalai district, Tripura.

Following the 1998 Tripura Legislative Assembly Election, Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl became a Member of Legislative Assembly from the Kulai constituency as an Independent candidate. Hrangkhawl went on to contest two more elections in 2003 and 2008, both of which he won.[13]

Further reading

  • Rites of Passage: Border Corssisngs, Imagined Homelands, India's East and Bangladesh by Sanjoy Hazarika[14]
  • Along the Red River By Sabita Goswami[15]
  • Peace Accords in Northeast India: Journey Over Milestones by Swarna Rajagopalam[16]
  • Lost Opportunities: 50 Years of Insurgency in the North-east and India's Response by S.P. Sinha[17]
  • Crossing Over: Demographic change in one small state is used as a red flag in its giant neighbour, Assam. But the history of Tripura and its people is much more than that By Sanskrita Bharadwaj[18]

References

  1. Web Desk, Outlook (14 February 2023). "Tripura Elections: Meet Bijoy Hrangkhawl, The Tipra Motha Chief Who Gave Up Gun To Be Kingmaker In Democracy". OutlookIndia.com. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  2. "Key Tripura Tribal Party Merges With Pradyot Kishore Deb Barman's Party". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  3. Khurana, Suanshu (12 July 2013). "An Octave Higher". The Indian Express. Retrieved 20 April 2023. He is the son of a leader of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT). Ethnic strife and issues in the state was what Hrangkhawl grew up with.
  4. "TIPRA selects Bijoy Hrangkhawl as state President". indigenousherald.com. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  5. "INPT merges with TIPRA for the interest of Tiprasa people". India Today NE. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  6. "Tripura: INPT announces merger with Pradyot Kishore's TIPRA, to work for 'Greater Tipraland'". The Indian Express. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  7. "The rise and fall of glorious Cachari kingdom". thesangaiexpress.com. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  8. Strategy of terror Archived 16 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Menon, Ramesh (15 September 1988). "Tripura Government signs politically expedient accord with TNVs". India Today. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  10. Hazarika, Sanjoy (13 August 1988). "India and Tribal Guerrillas Agree to Halt 8-Year Fight". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  11. "BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Tripura's tribal parties merge". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  12. "How Tripura won the 'war' against AFSPA". dailyo.in. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  13. "Tripura's Congress chief, INPT President file nominations". MorungExpress. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  14. Hazarika, Sanjoy (2000). Rites of passage : border crossings, imagined homelands, India's East and Bangladesh. New Delhi: Penguin Books. p. 240. ISBN 978-93-5118-130-9. OCLC 604663871.
  15. Goswami, Sabita (2013). Along the red river. Triveni Goswami Mathur. New Delhi. ISBN 978-93-81017-01-2. OCLC 830956415.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. Rajagopalan, Swarna (2008). Peace accords in Northeast India : journey over milestones. East-West Center Washington. Washington, DC: East-West Center Washington. ISBN 9781932728743. OCLC 682174384.
  17. Sinha, S. P., Brigadier (2007). Lost opportunities : 50 years of insurgency in the North-east and India's response. New Delhi: Lancer Publishers & Distributors. pp. 137–146. ISBN 978-81-7062-162-1. OCLC 182969662.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. "Crossing Over". Fifty Two (52). Retrieved 19 April 2023.