(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
The hillocks at Haduklau, a tribal hamlet at Longterai range of
Tripura's Dhalai district is now dotted with small houses, which
are the new address for many of the Bru community , who fled their
homes in Mizoram 25 year ago following ethnic conflicts, Trend reports citing The Print .
Over 400 Bru people left a relief camp to set up houses on land
provided by the government as a move to permanently solve the
`refugee' status of the community.
Thousands of the Bru tribal people have been living in relief
camps in Tripura since 1997. They had fled their ancestral homeland
in Mizoram to reach the neighbouring state, victims of ethnic
clashes. By now, the number of the internally displaced people has
risen to over 37,136.
Altogether 426 people belonging to 92 families living in
Naisinghpara camp in Kanchanpur subdivision of North Tripura
district were brought to Haduklau in Dhalai district, an official
said.
Sub-divisional Magistrate of Kanchanpur, Subhash Acharya said
more than 37000 Reang/Bru people from Mizoram were sheltered in
seven camps for more than 25-years in Kanchanpur subdivision and
with the rehabilitation package coming into effect all the
displaced people would be vacated from the subdivision and
rehabilitated in different parts of the state by August 31 this
year.
Thalirung Reang (45), a member of the displaced Bru community
finally has a permanent home in the village. A visibly happy
Thalirung said,“We have got land, money to construct our own
house. English medium schools were set up for our kids and we were
assured by the administration that Antoday cards would be given to
us for subsidised ration”.
They are the first batch, who were rehabilitated, following an
agreement signed in January last year among representatives of the
community, the Centre and the governments of Tripura and
Mizoram.
A 1,200 square feet plot has been allotted to each rehabilitated
Bru family and Rs 1.5 lakh provided by the government to set up a
home.
The agreement guarantees a fixed deposit of Rs 4 lakh for each
family, a monthly sum of Rs 5,000 and free monthly ration for two
years besides setting up of schools in all cluster villages.
“The process of settling the Bru tribes exiled for 25 years in
Tripura begun last year. The central government under the
leadership of PM has taken a humanitarian view and worked to solve
the problem,” Union Minister of state for social empowerment
Pratima Bhowmick said.
Dr Manas Dev, an officer on special duty (OSD), who oversees the
entire rehabilitation process, said that 1,638 Bru families were
rehabilitated at four places – Haduklau and Bongaphapara in Dhalai
district and Cascao and Waimbukcherra-Ranipara in North Tripura
district.
Altogether 6,959 families would be rehabilitated in 14 places of
the state.
The SDM said, all Bru people would be rehabilitated on or before
August 31 in different places of the state including in Kalajhari
hills in Amarpur subdivision of Gomati district.
“Their houses were built in Kalajhari hills and other parts of
the state. More than 21000 people of more than 3000 families are
yet to be rehabilitated, who would be given settlement by August 31
and all the people would be vacated from the Kanchanpur
subdivision”, he said.
The vexed Bru issue started in September, 1997, following
demands for a separate autonomous district council for the
community by carving out areas of western Mizoram adjoining
Bangladesh and Tripura. A large number of Bru people fled from
Mizoram to Tripura as ethnic clashes broke out.
The Centre, along with the governments of Tripura and Mizoram,
had been trying to repatriate them to their home state over the
past decade, with little success.
The first attempt to repatriate the Brus from Tripura was made
in November 2009 and the last one in 2019.
Several Bru families have refused to return to Mizoram, citing
security concerns and inadequate rehabilitation package. Some have
also sought a separate autonomous council for the community.
However, the January 2020 agreement has allowed these tribal
people to permanently settle in Tripura.
Under the quadripartite pact, the Home Ministry has committed to
incur the whole expenditure of settlement and the package assured
in the accord that each refugee family would get a plot, fixed
deposit of ₹4 lakh, free ration and a monthly stipend of ₹5,000 for
two years.
In addition, each family will also be provided ₹1.5 lakh to
construct a house.
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