The central rally of the day held at the native village of the martyr, at Kamalpur, Dhalai district. The magnitude of the commemoration of comrade Bimal Sinha’s martyrdom at Kamalpur, through innumerable programmes from dawn to dusk, with a massive and memorable participation of people attained a historic proportion. Last year on this day, the satiric scenery of the riverside of Kamalpur was shattered with the bullets sprayed by NLFT militants, and people lost their dearest of dear leader Comrade Bimal Sinha and his brother Bidyut Sinha. That is why innumerable people poured into the central rally to pay their heart-felt homage at the memorial built exactly on the spot where the mortal remains of the two martyrs and later their father were consigned to flames. The CPI(M) gave a call to observe this day of martyrdom statewide as anti-insurgency day. The programme attained a new dimension at Kamalpur due to its people’s pangs of bereavement. Organised programmes started from the break of the day at every panchayat, every unit of the party and its frontal organsiations, and every educational institutions. Besides, the commemoration of the martyrdom was made by several voluntary organisations, professional bodies and even at regional level. In the morning, about 500 children both boys and girls went down the slope of the riverside, the death-trap into which the accomplices of the extremists led comrade Sinha and his brother on that fateful day that the assurance of arranging the release of his another brother who had been abducted by the extremists two months earlier. The students at the infamous spot of betrayal pledged themselves to peace, amity and fraternity. Not only they, but many school students, after the end of the prayer assembly at school, took to the streets in silent procession wearing black badges to pay their homage to the patriotic martyr.

From midday, throngs of people left home and paraded the streets for long hours. The motor workers and owners also set a bright example yesterday by ferrying people throughout the day from all over Kamalpur to the rally site free of charge. Almost half of the streams of people were women. After the floral tributes paid by several left front leaders including the CPI(M) state secretary Baidyanath Majumdar and chief minister Manik Sarkar, the rally programme started presided over by Urban Development Minister Sudhir Das. The speakers including Baidyanath Majumdar, Manik Sarkar and the CPI(M), Kamalpur divisional secretary Ranjit Ghosh gave a fervent call to the the people to resolve to fight for the cause for which comrade Bimal Sinha fell to the guns of the militants and their mentors. The conspirators were fools to believe that the assassination of a popular leader acting as a strong casteyist of unity and harmony among the working classes, killed within a few days of hit being sworn into the fourth left front government, could bring this government to its knees. The conspirators, the internal and international vested interests, the discredited and conspirating politicians con’t know that leaders like comrade Bimal Sinha are immortal through the unity and struggle of thousands of their followers, the speakers maintained, said the thunderous commitment raising up the rallyists.

In various programmes the martyrdom of three valiant tirbal women - Kumar, Madhuti and Rupashree to take a renewed pledge for unification of all patriotic forces against insurgency in the state and thereby fulfil the ideals of those martyrs. The pivotal programme of the day was organised yesterday at Padmabill of Khowai, West Tripura, the village where the three valiant tribal women laid down their lives fifty years ago courageously confronting the bullets of the military of the central government of independent India trying to put down the demand for democracy put forward by the tribals of Tripura downtrodden by centuries of princely regime.

The memory of the first martyrs of Tripura is still fresh in the minds of the people of Khowai sub-division even after 50 years. When yesterday chief minister Manik Sarkar, chief executive member of Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (ADC) Ranjit Debbarma paid floral tributes of the permanent martyrs column at Padmabill, Kumari’s son and daughter, Madhuti’s grand daughter and Rupashree’s husband broke down in tears. Ignoring the scorching sun, women in huge number from all over Khowai started converging on the rally-site right from 2 p.m. to participate in this main programme scheduled to start from 4 p.m. There was a remarkable participation of youths and other age-groups of menfolk.

Expressing condolence over the martyrs on the occasion of the golden anniversary of Titun Rebellion, chief minister Manik Sarkar said in his address to the rally that the ideals for which the martyrs laid down their lives, have not yet been fully materialised. The left front government of Tripura and the ADC have been marching towards the fulfilling of these very ideals taking with them the people of the state. He fervently called upon the people to put up the invincible resistance against the forces obstructing and scuttling the development activities of the left front government and the ADC, because , without the cooperation of the people the pro-people programmes cannot be pressed ahead.

The other speaker, ADC chief executive member Ranjit Debbarma in his Kok-Bonk speech, outlined the background of the Titun Rebellion and the history of Janashiksh movement, the two fountainleads of the democracy and development of Tripura, and called upon the people to be united against the relentles conspiracy to undermine exactly those two things.

Photograph exhibition of ADC’s developmental activities, multifaricus overnight cultural programme two days long athletic meet and fair were the other highlights of the occasion. Chief minister Manik Sarkar inaugurated the cultural programmes last afternoon.