"..... we might as well break up Bangladesh," Tripura Tribal leader Pradyot Manikya asserts ... as he and Himanta Biswa Sarma blast Yunus remarks

Tipra Motha Party chief Pradyot Manikya on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 issued a fiery response to unwarranted comments from Muhammad Yunus, suggesting that India should take a more aggressive approach to securing its access to the sea.

"Rather than spending billions on innovative and challenging engineering ideas, we might as well break up Bangladesh and have our own access to the sea," Manikya said.

In a series of tweets, he called India’s decision to relinquish control over Chittagong port in 1947 "the nation’s biggest mistake." 

Advocating for a strategic sea route, he urged India to reduce its dependence on Bangladesh by supporting indigenous groups that historically ruled Chittagong.

"The Chittagong hill tracts were always inhabited by indigenous tribes that always wanted to be part of India since 1947. There are lakhs and lakhs of Tripuri, Garo, Khasi, and Chakma people residing in Bangladesh in terrible conditions in their traditional lands. 

This should be utilized for our national interest and for their well-being," he wrote. 

Assam CM and self-styled 'face' of the BJP in north east India, Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted: 

"The statement made by Md Younis of Bangladesh’s so-called interim government referring to the seven sister states of Northeast India as landlocked and positioning Bangladesh as their guardian of ocean access is offensive and strongly condemnable. 

This remark underscores the persistent vulnerability narrative associated with India’s strategic ‘Chicken’s Neck’ corridor (sic)".

He warned that such statements reflect deeper strategic considerations and longstanding agendas that must not be ignored. 

"Historically, even internal elements within India have dangerously suggested severing this critical passageway to isolate the Northeast from the mainland physically," he pointed out.

Blogger along Tripura-Bangladesh border: Jan 2025 

To counter such risks, Sarma called for scaling up infrastructure in the region. 

"It is imperative to develop more robust railway and road networks both underneath and around the Chicken’s Neck corridor," he said, adding that alternative road routes bypassing the vulnerable corridor should also be explored.

Meanwhile a social activist in Nagaland, Vike Sema said - 

"Yunus commented on NE without understanding the dynamics of North East regional equations.

Naga people in particular is not struggling for territorial expansion or land incursion but Naga people are struggling for recognition of its Identity as a people.

Chinese incursion in 1962 is a glaring example where Naga people did not wage war against India supporting China."

ends