Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl

Who is Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl?

Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl is the leader of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra, a political party based in the Indian state of Tripura. 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. Tripuri Sena was formed following the Left Front victory in 1977, and it engaged in physical combat against the left. Tripuri Sena soon evolved into the Tripura National Volunteers.

For ten years, 1978-1988, Hrangkhawl led a violent struggle as the supremo of the TNV, which sought to expel the Bengali majority from Tripura. TNV soon got 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:

In 1988 TNV signed a peace treaty, and TNV was converted into a political party.

TNV later merged with INPT.