Key Points

Addressing the main function to observe the 117th birth anniversary of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan, the Chief Minister said that PM Modi is the first Prime Minister in India who thinks for all and is keen to provide honour and due recognition to those who contributed a lot to the country. “We will build various memorials and statues of the 75 freedom fighters and warriors in the 75 border villages so that people can pay homage to these great men,” he said.

Saying that Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur was the architect of modern Tripura, Saha highlighted his pivotal role in building the state’s infrastructure and laid the foundation for education, healthcare, marketplaces and hundreds of big infrastructures. “His farsighted legacy continues to guide us in shaping a model Tripura. Over the last seven years, our government has been consistently working towards inclusive growth, peace, and progress,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that in 1942, Bir Bikram built the Agartala airport to facilitate air communication between the state and the rest of the country. The Tripura king, considering the enormous contribution of legendary Rabindranath Tagore in the literary world, conferred the title of 'Bharat Bhaskar' on the Nobel laureate poet in 1941, Saha said. Only a month ahead of the octogenarian Tagore's death, King Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya himself, accompanied by other royal personages, visited Viswa-Bharati in Santiniketan and conferred the title of 'Bharat Bhaskar' on Rabindranath.

According to historian and writer Pannalal Roy, the land for the Agartala, Kailashahar and various other (now abandoned) airports in Tripura had been donated by the erstwhile Tripura kings. "During the Second World War, King Bir Bikram supported and helped the Allied powers, especially Great Britain. He deployed a contingent of the Tripura Army to assist Great Britain. During that time, Agartala, Kailashahar and other airports were built to facilitate the Allied powers," Roy, who authored many books on Tripura's royal history, told IANS. He said that in 1943, Japanese fighter planes twice bombarded Agartala airport.

Located 20 km north of the state capital, the Agartala Airport, earlier known as Singerbill Airport, was renamed after Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur by the Union government in July 2018. The airport was built in 1942 on land donated by the then Tripura king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur. It was used as a technical base for the Royal Air Force during World War II.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the new integrated terminal of MBB Airport built at a cost of Rs 438 crore on January 4, 2022.

- IANS