“Camp inmates will not repatriate until demands are met”
GUWAHATI: With the repatriation process set for a November 30 conclusion, the Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Forum has appealed to the Centre to “close the chapter of displaced Brus as quickly as possible” even as a majority from the community remained lodged in the relief camps of north Tripura.
In a letter sent to A.P. Maheshwari, special secretary (internal security), Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Monday, the forum reiterated that the displaced Brus would not agree to repatriate to Mizoram until and unless their “small and simple demands” were met.
“So, around 98 per cent of the camp inmates remain in the relief camps waiting for a solution with just five days left for conclusion of the repatriation process,” the forum representatives wrote in the letter.
“In this context, we strongly believe that the chapter of displaced Brus should be closed down immediately in one way or the other. The MBDPF will intensify (agitation) and take all possible initiatives with all our might to meet the challenges for conclusion of the long-pending Bru displacement issue,” it stated.
The forum requested the Centre to resume supply of ration and cash doles, including arrear of cash doles for October and November, and ration for October 2019, to the inmates till the problem of displaced Brus was finally solved.
The Centre had suspended ration supply since October 1, 2019 ahead of the ninth phase of repatriation on October 3, triggering concerns among NGOs and camp inmates with the spectre of starvation looming and eventually prompting them to launch an agitation. Six camp inmates had lost their lives ahead of and during the road blockade staged at Kanchanpur.
The Tripura government subsequently intervened and agreed to supply ration to the camp inmates for a month since November 7, 2019.
