Agartala: A public apology from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Tafajjal Hossain has failed to stop the political and legal fallout over his remarks on the dietary practices associated with Tripura’s indigenous communities. Multiple police complaints, including one invoking the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, have been made against him with police – but no FIR has been registered so far. The ruling BJP has issued a show-cause notice and the police say it is inquiring into the matter.Hossain, the MLA from Boxanagar Assembly Constituency in Sepahijala district, came under fire after a video clip of his speech at a civic body election campaign in Tamsabari, under Sonamura sub-division, spread on social media. The speech was delivered on November 10. In the clip, Hossain is heard saying about the indigenous Janjati community, “They sleep with pigs from birth, rear pigs and do everything with pigs.”The remarks drew condemnation from tribal organisations and political leaders alike, including TIPRA Motha founder Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury and the BJP’s state general secretary Bipin Debbarma.No FIR yetSeveral organisations approached the police after the video went viral, seeking action against Hossain under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Atrocities Act.On November 11, Tribal Youth Federation (TYF) president Koushik Roy Debbarma filed a complaint at West Agartala police station, asking that the video be preserved and examined. A joint complaint was filed at the same station by representatives of TIPRA Motha, the Youth TIPRA Federation and the Tipra Indigenous Students Federation (TISF).The Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF) filed its own complaint at the New Capital Complex police station on November 12, demanding an unconditional public apology.“Our food habits are our cultural traditions, our identity is our pride, and our dignity is not something anyone can ridicule,” the federation said in a statement. TSF later held a demonstration at Circuit House in Agartala, where it burned photographs of the MLA.Also read: In Tripura’s Latest Political Drama, Constitutional Principles Clash With Claims About State’s Feudal PastThe complaints filed at West Agartala were later transferred to Sonamura police station, within whose jurisdiction the speech was delivered. Speaking to The Wire on Thursday (November 12), officer-in-charge of Sonamura police station, Tapash Das, said an inquiry was underway, but no FIR had been registered.Speaking to reporters on the same day, Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman pressed for the same demand. “As of now, when I am giving this statement, I am sure no FIR has been registered yet,” he said.“If an FIR is registered, it should be under the Prevention of Atrocities Act as well – not just the BNS. If anyone’s statement insults SC or ST communities, that Act makes it a non-bailable offence. Why would this case not be registered under it? That will be our demand, and it must happen immediately,” he added.The cultural backlash from alliesPradyot condemned Hossain in a video statement posted on November 11. “I saw the statement by the Sonamura MLA, in which he mocked our people, saying that we eat pigs,” he said.He defended the community’s food practices and rejected any attempt to dictate what people in the Northeast can eat. “We eat chicken, mutton, pork. This is our taste, this is our culture, this is our own food,” he said.“Those who send cows to Bangladesh and get rich off the meat trade have no business telling the people of the Northeast what they can and cannot eat,” he said, referring to an allegation about political patronage to cattle smuggling that has followed Hossain and his party for a while.Pradyot said the gap between Hossain and a content creator who had earlier mocked people from the Northeast was “not very much,” adding, “the only difference is that you are an MLA.” He said he had spoken to BJP leaders who accepted the remarks were wrong, and he called on Hossain to apologise.“I am asking that this fellow apologise to all the people of Tripura,” he said.Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury also condemned the remarks. “An elected MLA, who took oath in the name of the Constitution, says they sleep with pigs, eat with pigs, are born among pigs, grow up eating pork, so they are pigs too. I am extremely pained by this,” he said.In a social media post, he called the remarks “racist, insulting, classist and dehumanising” and said that the MLA “should be tried under the same provisions, with the same approach” used against a Delhi social media influencer arrested earlier for mocking people from the Northeast.BJP’s Debbarma distanced the party from the remarks. “I don’t think this statement is correct or that he should have said it this way,” he said, speaking at a press meet on Wednesday called to announce the party’s plans for Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, the November 15 tribute to tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda. “Every community has its own food habits, its own cultural traditions,” he said.An apology that came across as unapologeticFacing mounting criticism, Hossain held a press conference on November 11. “If my words have hurt my tribal friends in any way, I am extremely sorry,” he said.He accused the CPI(M) of editing the video “for propaganda” and said he had been addressing a Muslim-majority crowd at the time, arguing that although pork is forbidden in Islam, Muslim voters could still support TIPRA Motha, whose indigenous voters he once again indirectly identified with food practices.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Tafajjal Hossain at a press conference in which questions were asked about his offensive remarks about indigenous dietary practices. Photo: Facebook.The explanation did little to satisfy his critics. TIPRA Motha MLA Paul Dangshu told The Wire that Hossain’s statement was not an apology. “If he has not given a precise or proper statement against that derogatory remark, it is not an apology. We want him to give a proper apology. Our party has already filed a case, so let the law take its course,” he said.Asked directly whether he accepted it, Dangshu said, “That was not even an apology. What he actually said was, we eat pork, we ‘sleep with pigs’. It would be better if he clarified what his statement actually was.”Similarly, Koushik Roy Debbarma, president of the TYF, told The Wire on Thursday that his organisation would never accept the apology. “Never. That was not an apology,” he said.He said that Hossain had tried to shift the blame onto a political party instead of addressing the remarks he had made. “This is not about one party. This is about an entire community,” he said. He added that protests would continue “until Tafajjal Hossain is arrested or action is taken against him”.Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, during a door-to-door campaign on Thursday morning, said Hossain had already apologised and that the matter should be viewed in that context, adding that the party and the law would each take whatever course was required.Pradyot rejected that framing in a fresh social media post after Hossain’s press conference. “I have seen the so-called apology from the MLA from Boxanagar. Excuses and more excuses. His mindset is clearly exposed towards all of us. Whether it is cattle smuggling or beating up our jawans, this has to end. We cannot accept language like this, and his apology was nothing but a poor attempt to divert what he said,” he wrote.Mohammed Saha Alam Miah, chairman of TIPRA Motha’s Minority Cell, also questioned the chief minister’s framing. “You tell me, did he apologise or is he trying to save himself by dragging another political party into this,” he told The Wire.MLA Barman rejected the apology and called for Hossain’s resignation. “If someone commits a non-bailable offence and then says ‘sorry’, will the public forgive him? He should be told to resign immediately and vacate his seat…. He has insulted an entire community and there are already countless allegations against him,” he added.Allegations of violence and cattle smugglingWhile speaking to The Wire, Miah pointed to a series of incidents in Boxanagar that he said reflected poorly on the law and order situation there. He referred to recent incidents of crimes and alleged that an illegal shopping complex had also been constructed on government land and that the border security forces faced unprovoked attacks.Miah accused the MLA of verbally abusing local police officials and instigating political violence, including a bomb attack that previously injured a TIPRA Motha worker. Earlier this year, a purported audio recording of Hossain abusing a police officer had gone viral, sparking controversy.Pradyot also described Boxanagar as a trouble spot on the border (with Bangladesh). “People who smuggle cattle across to Bangladesh and beat up the BSF have no right to comment on what we eat or what our culture is,” he said.Also read: Tripura: Villagers Kill Three Men on Suspicion of Cattle TheftCongress leader Barman made a similar accusation, stating, “Everyone knows it, what you hear are not allegations.” Earlier, Hossain had faced allegations that his supporters were engaged in extortion as well as attempted assault against a woman in 2025. In 2024, he had allegedly made remarks in the state Assembly suggesting that Muslims were involved in various criminal activities in the state and country, sparking calls for an apology.The ruling party responds: another show-cause noticeOn Thursday the BJP’s state disciplinary committee issued a show-cause notice to Hossain, giving him seven days to explain his conduct. The notice said the party had taken note of a video in which Hossain is “alleged to have made objectionable and insulting remarks” about the food habits and daily life of the state’s indigenous community, adding that “as an elected representative, this kind of conduct is in no way acceptable.”It also objected to what it called “fanciful claims” Hossain had made using the names of the chief minister and a former chief minister.Miah was skeptical the notice would lead anywhere. “He has been show-caused before this too. Was any judgment ever passed against him,” he said. “A wrongdoer is a wrongdoer, whether he is an MLA or a common man. He must be punished.”