GUWAHATI: About 12,000 displaced Bru camp inmates, comprising men, women and children, began an indefinite road blockade between Kanchanpur and Anandabazar from Thursday demanding immediate resumption of ration distribution and cash doles among the seven camps in northern Tripura.
Traffic along the 50-km stretch was disrupted for 12 hours from 5am, with a majority of protesters sitting on the road and holding placards that read, “Stoppage of ration in inhuman”, “No ration, no rest”, Don’t force us to repatriate on empty stomach,” et al.
Representatives from four leading Bru NGOs such as the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF), Mizoram Bru Indigenous Democratic Movement (MBIDM), Bru Tribal Development Society and Bru Displaced Women Welfare Committee also took part in the protest.
“The sub-divisional magistrate of Kanchanpur came and requested us to withdraw the road blockade and resort to other means of protest as it was causing inconvenience to local residents. But we told him that we are being compelled to stage the protest as thousands of camp inmates have been starving since ration and cash doles were suspended by the Centre since the past 30 days now,” MBDPF general secretary, Bruno Msha told The Shillong Times over phone from the protest venue on Thursday afternoon.
Msha also urged the district administration to communicate the message to the Centre so as to prevent any casualties and untoward incidents. Earlier, letters have been addressed to the Centre demanding the same through the district officials.
“Our stand is firm and the protest will continue till the Centre withdraws its decision to discontinue ration supply to the camp inmates during the two-month long repatriation process which is scheduled to end on November 30, 2019. If there is no response, we plan to intensify our protest and block the national highway as well,” he cautioned.
No untoward incident was reported during the protest.