GUWAHATI, July 30: Four frontline Bru organisations have sought adequate protection for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Bru community at the Kaskaopara relief camp in north Tripura while demanding exemplary punishment to those involved in recent attacks against such IDPs.
The organisations – Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Forum (MBDPF), Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Coordination Committee (MBDPCC), Bru Tribal Development Society (BTDS) and Bru Displaced Welfare Organisation (BDWO) – urged government to take steps to immediately identify the persons who attacked as many as 60 Bru IDPs last Monday and take them to task.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, the Bru groups sought financial compensation from the Tripura government for seven Bru IDPs “who were critically injured after people from the Chorai community beat them up” last Monday.
“Security forces should be deployed for protection of Bru IDPs at Kaskaopara relief camp from any such attacks in future,” the statement said.
All the four Bru groups are signatory organisations of the quadrilateral agreement signed in January last year in New Delhi. The agreement, also signed by the Centre, Mizoram and Tripura governments, allows the Bru IDPs to settle permanently in Tripura.
The Tripura government had set up this relief camp at Kaskaopara in 1997 for resettlement of the Brus who had been driven out of Mizoram 23 years back.
The existing camp at Kaskaopara is under Damcherra Reserve Forest land. Therefore, the Tripura government has diverted 20 hectares of forest land for resettlement of 829 families.
“The Tripura government should make diversion of 20 more hectares on the roadside between Damcherra to Gourango Para for accommodation of 345 Bru IDP families at Kaskaopara. The resettlement should start immediately in various locations under Kanchanpur sub-division,” the Bru groups demanded.
The groups further alleged that the IDPs at Kaskaopara relief camp have been attacked and threatened by people from the Chorai community earlier this month as well.
“About 25 to 30 youths under the banner of Young Chorai Association(YCA) and Tlangram Indigenous Peoples’ Movement(TIPM) came to Kaskaopara relief camp and attacked three families of Bru IDPs on July 13. Two days later, some Chorai youths came to Kaskaopara and warned the IDPs to dismantle their houses and leave the place within three days or face dire consequences,” it said.
“The incidents were pre-planned to sabotage the entire resettlement process of Bru IDPs in Tripura,” the Bru groups alleged.