Sixteenth Tripura State Conference of CITU Held
Arupratan Sarma
The 16th Tripura State Conference of CITU was held on November 10-11 in the Town Hall, Agartala. The inaugural session was held in the afternoon of 10 November, after a mammoth public rally was organised in the heart of the state capital. The organization flag was hoisted by CITU State President Manik Dey, following which floral tributes were offered at the martyrs’ column by CITU General Secretary Tapan Sen, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Jitendra Chaudhury, CITU State General Secretary Shankar Prasad Datta, among others.
A total of 406 delegates from different parts of the state attended the conference. The most striking feature about the delegates was that 27 per cent of them were below 40 years of age, while another 21 per cent were aged between 40 and 50, thereby making it a total of 48 per cent aged below 50 years. Another encouraging feature about the youth coming to the fore was that 137 delegates, that is around 37 per cent of the total, attended the state-level conference for the first time. CITU Assistant General Secretary Anadi Sahu and leaders from fraternal organisations were present in the conference.
The presidium consisted of Manik Dey, Tapan Chakraborty, Amitabha Datta, Jaya Barman, Ahidur Rehman and Paresh Paik. The condolence motion was read over by CITU State Vice-President Tapan Chakraborty. Afterwards, artistes of the Tripura Sanskriti Samannay Kendra presented the inaugural song, following which the president of the preparatory committee, Aghore Debbarma, delivered his welcome speech. In his address, Tapan Sen narrated the alarming situation prevailing in the state as well as in the entire country. He mentioned the hindrances created by the elements harbored by the ruling party to forcefully prevent people from attending the public rally.
He said fascistic attacks have been unleashed on the rights of the working class as well as the common people. He made a call to brave the terror tactics and organise movements in the interest of the society and the country. The first day’s session ended after the draft general secretary’s report was placed by Shankar Prasad Datta.
The second day saw a detailed discussion by delegates on the draft report. A total of 38 delegates took part in the discussion, of whom 11 were women. Spirited discussion of the delegates highlighted the deplorable condition of the state under the BJP-led coalition government. One after another, they spoke about relentless attacks unleashed by the BJP-led government on the lives and livelihoods of common people during the last seven-and-a-half years. Workers are being subjected to harassment at their workplaces, but the administration prefers to keep their eyes shut. There are a number of tea estates in the state which were flourishing during the earlier Left Front rule. But now the estates have virtually become the open ground for coercion and oppression by the BJP leaders. A number of delegates representing the workers of tea estates have shared their harrowing experiences. At the same time, it became clear from the reports of the delegates that the situation is turning now. Working people, who are virtually pushed against the wall, have now started to stand firm and resist the attack. Membership is gradually increasing as more and more people are coming now into the CITU fold.
Delegates from scheme workers reported that the ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers are being forced to attend the programmes and meetings of the ruling party. Any defiance is dealt with severely. It has been the practice under the BJP rule, but there is a perceptible change in the air. At many places, the scheme workers have now started protesting against the ruling party’s diktats. The delegates spoke about the all-round attacks on democracy and democratic rights of people, let loose by the BJP-led governments at the Centre as well as in the state. They stressed upon the need for establishing close contact with the working people, and to build up resistance movements as well as struggle for restoring democracy right from the grass root level.
The delegate session was addressed by Tapan Sen, Jitendra Chaudhury, Anadi Sahu and AIKS State Secretary Pabitra Kar. They called upon the delegates to organise and lead the people in order to fulfil their aspirations. They made it clear that the people are now fed up with the activities of the BJP government. Their anger is now to be organised into a mass movement to replace the anti-people government with a people-friendly one. Closing speech on the delegates’ discussion was delivered by Manik Dey and Shankar Prasad Datta.
In the last session, a new State Secretariat comprising 23 members was elected unanimously with Manik Dey and Shankar Prasad Datta re-elected as the President and the General Secretary. Besides, a State Council comprising 137 members were elected unanimously, of whom 64 are new faces. Most of these 64 new members of the State Council are women and youth coming from different trades. The State Council later elected a State Working Committee comprising 61 members. The conference ended on a high note.
