The Tripura Land Revenue and Reforms Act of 1960 can be seen as a source of Tripuri grievances against Bengali peoples. This act stated that any person who came into Tripura would be considered as an illegal trespasser. The Tripuri people considered Bengalis trespassers in their land so they wanted this act to take full effect. Another grievance for the Tripuri people was the fact that immigrants made up more of the population than the natives and they felt that their land was being taken over by Bengalis, who make up the majority of the population. The organization began as a tribal group made up of extremists but eventually started recruiting tribal youth. This helped to grow the group and make it more powerful. By 1991, the group was a full-fledged terrorist organization. This group was founded under the name "All Tripura Tribal Force". In 1992, the group changed the name from "All Tripura Tribal Force" to "All Tripura Tiger Force". The group has various training camps spread throughout the Srimongal and Moulavibazardistricts of Bangladesh. In 1993, a memorandum was issued by the ATTF. It expressed the idea that the members of All Tripura Tiger Force wished to stop their violent struggle against the Bengali people. The document also stated that there have been peace talks between the government of Tripura and the ATTF. Some members of the group decided to stay in the organization even with the memorandum, others left the group and renounced terrorism. After some group members left, the All Tripura Tiger Force was partly revived through the renewed vivacity of the remaining members. However, at the time of the memorandum, the group was at its strongest point yet with 1600 members. Now, the group is said to have about 600 members. In 1997, the Indian government issued a ban under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the ATTF due to the rioting caused by ethnic division in the Tripura region. In 2004, there was a movement for peace with the Bengali peoples but it never came to pass. This was a move for peace led by Ranjit Debbarma that came with conditions. The primary condition was that Bengalis who entered Tripura after 1949 should be considered foreigners. All the conditions of Debbarma's demands were denied and no further progress towards peace has been made. In October 2018, the Indian government denounced the All Tripura Tiger Force and The National Liberation Front of Tripura for its violent activities. The ATTF and NLFT were given the chance in 2019 to defend their recent actions when a team from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs investigated both the organizations. They hoped to prevent the organization from being named as terrorist by the government of India. In January 2019 The MHA tribunal recorded A fresh ban of five years was imposed on NLFT and ATTF, along with all their factions, wings and frontal organisations, on October 3 for their “violent and subversive activities”, which aim at the establishment of an independent nation by the secession of Tripura from India through armed struggle. In May 2019 the authorities continued for five more years the actual ban they have with the ATTF and the National Liberation Front of Tripura despite its partial demobilization
According to the Global Terrorism Database, the ATTF has committed 7 claimed attacks and another 7 suspected attacks. The first claimed attack occurred in October 1992. The latest recorded attacks was committed in November 2017. The attack was an armed assault on police patrol which left four people dead. While all of their attacks have had relatively few casualties, their most lethal attack was in May 2003. The attack occurred in Mohorcherra, India against civilians and resulted in a total of 19 deaths.
Leadership
As of 2016, the leadership of the group is as follows:
Ranjit Debbarma was arrested in 2017 on sedition charges and was also thought to have been trying to form a new regime of terrorism in Tripura with the All Tripura Tiger Force and the National Liberation Front of Tripura. He was also arrested in Dhaka in 2012.
Objectives
To rid all Bengali peoples from Tripuri areas, specifically those who entered after 1956 The returning of Tripuri lands to their original owners as provided under the act of 1960 To make the Tripura Merger Agreement of 1949 happen in the region.
This agreement allowed Tripura to officially become a part of the Indian Union. Even though Bangladesh was still incorporated into India at this time, this would further separate the Tripuri peoples from their Bengali neighbors.
