'Capture Chittagong Hill, pre-empt threats from Bangladesh': Tipra Motha's Pradyot urges Centre
'You create a friendly country because our people on the other side want it. India will have a friendly country like Bhutan,' says Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma
- Sep 22, 2025,
- Updated Sep 22, 2025 7:30 PM IST
Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma has urged the Centre to pursue a territorial aim he described as "Greater Tipraland," saying India should reclaim what he called "our old land" across borders and even advocate a pre-emptive posture toward Bangladesh.
"Greater Tipraland is when we all get together and thoko Pakistan and Bangladesh and get Chittagong Hill Tracts get our old land back," he said in a podcast with ANI when asked about his Greater Tipraland demand. "These are artificial boundaries which have been created. There are our people living on that side. Don't create a political boundary. Create a cultural boundary."
Asked whether he was calling for annexation, he replied in terms of creating a friendly state rather than direct annexation: "I'm saying you create an East Timor. You create a friendly country because our people on the other side want it. India will have a friendly country like Bhutan."
When pressed how he knew people on the other side wanted union with India or whether there was any referendum, Pradyot dismissed referendums as decisive only when backed by outside power. "You think this happens through a referendum. There are no such things as a referendum. If the West wants it, it'll happen. Was there any referendum to throw out Sheikh Hasina? Regime changes are very clear. It happens. There is a deep state which works."
Pradyot invoked regional instability and cross-border dynamics to argue his case, pointing to violence and unrest in neighbouring countries. He cited developments in Myanmar - "there is something happening in Burma also with the Kachin army, the Junta, the entire state is totally in a mess. The Arakan army is in a mess. There's a Rohingya problem" — and linked migration into India's northeast to wider geopolitics. "What is happening in Manipur? People are coming in from Myanmar. These are all a part of a larger geopolitics which is happening."
He argued economic survival for the northeast demanded control over access to the sea. "We need strong leadership which will look at this area, this corridor 20 years down the line. If we have to economically survive and prove Mr Muhammad Yunus wrong, then the Chittagong Hill Tracts is essential for our economic survivability. Not Tripura, the whole of Northeast."
In March this year, Bangladesh's interim government chief advisor Muhammad Yunus described the northeastern states as a landlocked region with no access to the ocean. He positioned Bangladesh as the "only guardian of the ocean" for this entire region and highlighted the strategic opportunity for China to use Bangladesh as a gateway for economic expansion.
On the prospects of international acceptance for his proposal, and comparing it with other conflicts, Pradyot said he expected regional powers and the West to be supportive. "Chakmas are Buddhists. Japan, China, and the eastern republics will support us. Amongst the Triupuris, Garos, Khasis, and a considerable amount of Christians and Hindus - so the West will have no problem."
He cast Bangladesh as a declining state that could become a security threat and urged pre-emptive action if necessary. "If India is talking about becoming a superpower and we cannot even tackle Bangladesh which is provoking us, then I think we should give up the dream. Indira Gandhi did it in 1971 when we were not even a superpower. So we should do it now."
"Next year, there is an election in Bangladesh. You are going to have a non-unfriendly anti-India government - whether it is Khaleda Zia, Jamaati Islami, Nahidul Islam or Muhammad Yunus. Sheikh Hasina is not coming. They're going to create insurgency, violence, and ISI bases. So, we should strike them first before they strike us."
Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma has urged the Centre to pursue a territorial aim he described as "Greater Tipraland," saying India should reclaim what he called "our old land" across borders and even advocate a pre-emptive posture toward Bangladesh.
"Greater Tipraland is when we all get together and thoko Pakistan and Bangladesh and get Chittagong Hill Tracts get our old land back," he said in a podcast with ANI when asked about his Greater Tipraland demand. "These are artificial boundaries which have been created. There are our people living on that side. Don't create a political boundary. Create a cultural boundary."
Asked whether he was calling for annexation, he replied in terms of creating a friendly state rather than direct annexation: "I'm saying you create an East Timor. You create a friendly country because our people on the other side want it. India will have a friendly country like Bhutan."
When pressed how he knew people on the other side wanted union with India or whether there was any referendum, Pradyot dismissed referendums as decisive only when backed by outside power. "You think this happens through a referendum. There are no such things as a referendum. If the West wants it, it'll happen. Was there any referendum to throw out Sheikh Hasina? Regime changes are very clear. It happens. There is a deep state which works."
Pradyot invoked regional instability and cross-border dynamics to argue his case, pointing to violence and unrest in neighbouring countries. He cited developments in Myanmar - "there is something happening in Burma also with the Kachin army, the Junta, the entire state is totally in a mess. The Arakan army is in a mess. There's a Rohingya problem" — and linked migration into India's northeast to wider geopolitics. "What is happening in Manipur? People are coming in from Myanmar. These are all a part of a larger geopolitics which is happening."
He argued economic survival for the northeast demanded control over access to the sea. "We need strong leadership which will look at this area, this corridor 20 years down the line. If we have to economically survive and prove Mr Muhammad Yunus wrong, then the Chittagong Hill Tracts is essential for our economic survivability. Not Tripura, the whole of Northeast."
In March this year, Bangladesh's interim government chief advisor Muhammad Yunus described the northeastern states as a landlocked region with no access to the ocean. He positioned Bangladesh as the "only guardian of the ocean" for this entire region and highlighted the strategic opportunity for China to use Bangladesh as a gateway for economic expansion.
On the prospects of international acceptance for his proposal, and comparing it with other conflicts, Pradyot said he expected regional powers and the West to be supportive. "Chakmas are Buddhists. Japan, China, and the eastern republics will support us. Amongst the Triupuris, Garos, Khasis, and a considerable amount of Christians and Hindus - so the West will have no problem."
He cast Bangladesh as a declining state that could become a security threat and urged pre-emptive action if necessary. "If India is talking about becoming a superpower and we cannot even tackle Bangladesh which is provoking us, then I think we should give up the dream. Indira Gandhi did it in 1971 when we were not even a superpower. So we should do it now."
"Next year, there is an election in Bangladesh. You are going to have a non-unfriendly anti-India government - whether it is Khaleda Zia, Jamaati Islami, Nahidul Islam or Muhammad Yunus. Sheikh Hasina is not coming. They're going to create insurgency, violence, and ISI bases. So, we should strike them first before they strike us."