GUWAHATI: Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga has requested his Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb to re-consider and cancel the proposed re-settlement of displaced Brus in Kanchanpur sub-division in North Tripura district.
In a letter to Deb, the Mizoram chief minister said that given the “ethnic tension and upheaval between Mizos and Brus, both in Mizoram and Tripura any strain between the Mizo and Bru communities in Tripura would undoubtedly have repercussions in Mizoram and vice versa.”
“It could defeat the very purpose and spirit of the agreement signed between representatives of the Bru community, chairman TIPRA, chief secretary of Tripura, Mizoram, joint secretary of ministry of home affairs on January 16, 2020,” Zoramthanga wrote in the letter.
“I therefore find it pertinent to request you to immediately reconsider and cancel the proposal for resettlement of displaced Brus at the traditional habitat of Mizos at Jampui Hills and surrounding areas in North Tripura district,” the letter read.
Zoramthanga further referred to the instance of Mizos in four villages of Sakhan Hills “fleeing from their traditional villages due to tensions with Brus displaced from Mizoram, back in 1998”.
“I would posit that re-consideration and cancellation of the proposed resettlement of displaced Brus amidst Mizo traditional settlers of Jampui hill area and arrangement of other appropriate locations is inevitable if the historic agreement signed on January 16, 2020 is to be successfully implemented in letter and spirit,” the chief minister wrote in the letter to Deb.
Later, Zoramthanga took to Twitter to state, “Deeply saddened by the disputes regarding resettlement of displaced Brus in areas historically belonging to minor Mizo community in Jampui Hills and surrounding Kanchanpur areas in Tripura.”
