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Mizoram CM requests Tripura not to resettle Bru migrants in Mizo habitatsBy Hindustan Times

A day after Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga wrote to Tripura government to cancel the proposal for resettlement of the Bru families in the Zampui Hills and surrounding areas in North district of Tripura, the Tripura government said they are dealing with resettlement of the Bru migrants in accordance with the Centre's instruction.

"The Bru settlement was a long pending issue and finally it came to an end under the leadership of Modi ji. They will be resettled in the state very soon," said Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

"Anybody can write a letter but the state government will decide the place of their settlement," he added.

Zoramthanga wrote the letter to Tripura CM weeks after a North Tripura-based NGO, Mizo Convention, protested against Bru resettlement in Jampui Hills and its adjacent areas. Zoramthanga in the letter said Jampui Hills was the traditional habitat of the Mizos.

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Earlier in January this year, the Centre announced a Rs 600 crore rehabilitation package for the Bru migrants who have been staying at six camps in North district of Tripura for more than two decades.

Over 37,000 Bru people took refuge at six camps, three each at Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub divisions, nearly 200 kilometres from Agartala since 1997 after escaping an ethnic clash in Mizoram.

Zoramthanga's letter reminded Tripura CM that there has been ethnic tension between both the communities in the two northeastern states which had forced the Mizos to flee from four villages of Sakhan Hills.

His letter added that any kind of strain between the Mizos and Brus in Tripura might have ' repercussions' in Mizoram.

"I would posit that re-consideration and cancellation of the proposed resettlement of displaced Brus amidst Mizo traditional settlers of Zampui hill area and arrangement of other appropriate locations is inevitable if the historic Agreement signed on 16.1.2020 is to be successfully implemented in letter and spirit," Zoramthanga wrote.

Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) general secretary Bruno Maha said, "The Mizoram government failed to solve our problems for the past 23 years. Now Mizoram should not interfere when our crisis is about to be resolved."

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