“Take immediate steps to prevent impending starvation deaths”
GUWAHATI: Three Bru NGOs have urged the Centre to withdraw its decision to suspend distribution of ration and cash doles among seven relief camps in north Tripura housing displaced people from the community till the ongoing repatriation process is over.
The Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Forum (MBDPF), Mizoram Bru Indigenous Democratic Movement (MBIDM) and Bru Tribal Development Society have shot off a letter to the district magistrate of north Tripura district on Thursday requesting immediate resumption of distribution of ration and cash doles in the wake of the “spectre of starvation looming large over the camp inmates.”
The Union home ministry had stopped distribution of relief to the seven camps from the beginning of this month.
“The decision to stop the relief distribution is unconstitutional as it violates human rights because the repatriation process which started from October 3, 2019, is going on and will continue till November 30, 2019. So the displaced Bru people will have to undergo the process in empty stomach,” the groups stated in the letter.
The NGOs cautioned against possible casualties in the next few days “owing to starvation” in the absence of ration and cash.
“It has been 24 days since the relief has been suspended. The hungry and desperate camp inmates languishing in the seven relief camps do not have any alternative but to block the main road, loot government godowns, et al, for their survival,” the letter to the district administration, read.
They further appealed to the authorities to take the message to the Centre to resume relief distribution till an amicable solution was found and the repatriation process was over.
“We request to treat this application as urgent and take favourable action to prevent (impending) starvation deaths and subsequent breakdown of law and order in the area,” it read.