A leader of the Tipra Motha Party filed a police complaint on June 16 against a Tripura news website for referring to its member as a “Chinese aunty”. 

Ati Jamatia, state party leader of the Tipra Motha Party, confirmed to Newslaundry that a complaint was filed by TMP leader Gita Debbarma with the New Capital Complex police station in Agartala. “Referring to us as ‘Chinese aunty’ is a violation of the law. This is a clear example of racism,” Jamatia said.

The Agartala-based news website, News Independent, had made the comment on its Facebook page while reporting on a June 15 press conference organised by the women’s wing of the party. The focus of the event was to address “false news” spread by media organisations on a June 14 protest by the Tripura Indigenous Students’ Forum, the student wing of the Tipra Motha Party.

The post says, in Bengali, “Chinese aunty is not afraid of Independent...The leader is disturbed. She accepted that yesterday they threw stones and pebbles at the police.” 

Tipra Motha Party chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma had tweeted about the post, calling it a “racist jibe”.

Debbarma told Newslaundry the comment reflected the “discriminatory treatment of tribal communities in Tripura” and “racist and indicative of the perception that tribal communities are inferior”. 

Birajit Sinha, the president of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee, also tweeted that he “strongly” condemned News Independent’s post.

Saikat Talaptra, the founder of News Independent, confirmed to Newslaundry that the post was indeed on their Facebook page. He did not comment on the language used and the controversy that has followed.