Every year people of Kalyanpur Bazar Colony in Tripura woke up with heavy hearts on December 12. The day brings back haunting memories of gruesome killings of 26 innocent people including women by the barbaric act of militants in 1996.
Armed with firearms, the militants started spraying bullets indiscriminately on helpless people. Even before people could realise, 26 lives lost scripting a black day in the history of Tripura reminding people of dark time of militancy in the State.
As Kalyanpur people were readying up to pay homage to the victims, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha too offered his tributes to people who fell to the mindless and inhuman act of the militants.
Taking to social media, after offering tributes, Dr Saha wrote, “On this day in 1996, the people of Kalyanpur Bazar Colony in Khowai district had witnessed the brutal massacre in which 26 people were killed.
After 27 years, the memories of this brutal incident still haunt the people of Kalyanpur”. He also expressed his deepest condolences to the family members of the victims.
Later, Dr Saha addressed a public meeting organised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in memory of the people who lost their lives in the incident at Kalyanpur Motor Stand under Khowai district today.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by State president of BJP Rajib Bhattacharjee, Chief Whip of Tripura Assembly Kalyani Saha Roy, local MLA Pinaki Das and others.
Presence of women in the meeting was noticeable.
The day was also recalled by netizens who also paid rich tributes to the victims as well as condemned the barbarism.
Over the years, Kalyanpur Bazar Colony has changed a lot – but the wounds in minds of people against the bloodthirsty militants remain.