Tripura: Bru Leader Urges Govt to Resolve Tribal & Non-Tribal Conflict

Agartala, January 18, 2019:

The Bru leaders who have been assured of being settled in Tripura permanently extended gratitude towards the State and Central Governments today.  At the same time, the leaders also urged the Government to resolve the conflict with the non-tribal communities in the State.

General Secretary of Mizoram Bru Displaced People Forum (MBDPF) Bruno Masho said that they were grateful to the government of Tripura and the Centre for the humanitarian move.

"I am very grateful to the government. We are all happy. The development and life of the human being do not lie in the relief camps. So our future was totally uncertain. So this decision taken by the government of India led by BJP for Brus is very good, excellent and example of dynamic governance", he stated.

On the issue of confrontations and protests being staged by some non-tribal groups and apolitical organizations, he said that he could not comment on that, and hoped the governments would intervene to resolve the problem at the earliest.

ALSO READ: Shillong Traffic Police Hands out Roses Instead of ‘Challans’ to Violators

"They have raised their own agenda, they have raised their own thinking. We can not say anything about that. The government will also settle this problem. The package announced for the Bru settlement of Rs 600 crore for development and other issues may solve the issue."

He also termed the agreement as "historic" as it has addressed longstanding issue between neighboring states. "It is our duty to abide by the agreement and contribute in building the society” Bruno added.

“Now we will be becoming the citizens of Tripura. We have to forget our ancestral home land where we had been living since time immemorial. We will try our best to become good citizens of Tripura and will try to bring peace in the state...” Masho told this reporter.

Notably, the Brus took shelter in Tripura after they had to flee persecution in neighboring Mizoram following by ethnic clashes in the year 1997. Since then, they were residing in Kanchanpur located in North Tripura district of Tripura.

In November last year, the Brus staged a road blockade in the National highway demanding resumption of their rationing after the they crossed the finish line of repatriation in accordance with the four corner agreement signed in March 2018 last.

The pact signed on January 16 last at New Delhi under the mediation of Home Minister Amit Shah resolved their problems and offered permanent settlement in Tripura.

A fresh identification drive will be initiated soon to prepare a database of all the 34,000 refugees within 15 days. The entire process of settlement is expected to take six months, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb told a media conference earlier on Friday.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.