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campaign.
The
Mizoram Police
remained mute witness as the MZP activists torched the Reang
villages and committed these atrocities. The Mizoram Police
reportedly also participated in the mass evictions of the
Reangs.
Since then they have been
housed in six relief camps under Kanchanpur Sub-Division of
Tripura. Despite the directions of National Human Rights Commission
of India in October 1999, Mizoram government refused to take
back the Reangs.
The YMA and MZP systematically
used voter list to identify the Reangs as outsiders. On the
direction of the Election Commission of India, many were enrolled
in the voter list. However, only 1733 out of 2406 voters in
Kawrthah and 971 out of the total 1240 voters in Phuldungsei
constituencies could cast their votes through postal ballots
in the bye-elections held on 10 December 2005 as the YMA and
MZP members physically prevented them from exercising their
constitutional rights.
I. Failure of the MoU
After 13th rounds
of talks, the BNLF and state government of Mizoram signed
the MoU. It was clear from the opinions of the displaced Brus
that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between
Mizoram government and BNLF has failed to resolve the Bru
insurgency. It does not address the problems of displaced
Brus who constitute the overwhelming majority of the Brus
of Mizoram. It only attempts to rehabilitate the BNLF cadres.
There is no general amnesty
for those living in the camps, guarantees for security, compensation
for the properties lost and/or damaged, restoration of the
lands to the original owners, and proper and adequate rehabilitation
of the displaced Brus within a specific time frame. Nothing
reflects more acutely the repressive policies of the Mizoram
government than the murder of Hulendra Reang in August 2005
by Mizoram Police after entering into Tripura.
The MoU of 26 April 2005
does not mention specific number of Bru refugees in the Tripura
camps to be returned or time frame for their repatriation.
Rather, the MoU provides for the identification of the socalled
genuine Brus by the State government of Mizoram. It is nothing
but a ploy not to take back majority of the displaced Brus
and exposes Mizoram government's tacit support to the Mizo
Zirlai Pawl (MZP) and Young Mizo Association (YMA) which first
systematically deleted the Brus from the voter lists and then
uprooted them from their hearts and homes.
The Brus are unlikely to
be included in the voter lists on their return. There is no
rule of law or due process of law as Mizoram government often
abdicates its responsibility to the non-State actors like
YMA and MZP to delete the minorities in the State from the
voter list.
Yet, the government of India
announced a Rs 28 crore package for the rehabilitation of
Brus. It was unwise to declare the package without specifying
the time frame for the return of the Brus from Tripura and
the package for each family. Since the Mizoram government
refuses to take back all the Brus, are we to presume that
Mizoram government will take back all of them or is it a case
that Central government has already accepted the number of
Brus to be repatriated? Unless the displaced Brus are rehabilitated,
new armed opposition group such as the Bru Liberation Front
of Mizoram (BLFM) will emerge.
II. Despair in the relief
camps
During the visit to the
relief camps under Kanchanpur sub-division in North Tripura
from 2-4 January 2006, Asian Centre for Human Rights found
the conditions of over 34,000 displaced Brus in the camps
in North Tripura as sub-human. It is clear that Tripura government
does not believe in "Athithi Deva Bhava".
The daily cash dole of Rs
2.90 i.e. Rs 87/- per month given to each adult Bru is extremely
discriminatory considering that displaced Kashmiri pandits
from Jammu and Kashmir are provided Rs 800/- per month.
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