BRUS REFUGEES

The Brus, also known as Reangs, are spread across Tripura, Mizoram and southern Assam. In Mizoram, they are scattered in Kolasib, Lunglei and Mamit districts. While many Brus of Assam and Tripura are Hindu, the Brus of Mizoram converted to Christianity over the years. 

The conflicts between the Brus and the local Bengali non-tribal people have started taking place in Tripura. In Mizoram, the Bru is called Vai, a term for non-Mizos, indicating they are ethnically and linguistically different from Mizos. 

Due to the fear that non-locals will take over their land and its politics, clashes between communities in Northeast India are common conflict ensued between the Mizos and the Brus in 1995. 

Mizo organisations demanded the removal of Brus from the state’s electoral roll, claiming that the Brus are not indigenous to the state. But the successive governments didn’t agree to their demand, and soon an armed organisation called the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) was formed. 

This led to an armed movement by a Bru outfit, which killed a Mizo forest official in October 1997. The retaliatory ethnic violence saw more than 40,000 Brus fleeing to adjoining Tripura, where they took shelter in six relief camps.

Brus started demanding a separate territory, carved out of western Mizoram where, their population is highest, along with parts of Tripura and Bangladesh. 

The Centre and the two State governments involved, made nine attempts to resettle the Brus in Mizoram. The first was in November 2010 when 1,622 Bru families with 8,573 members went back. Protests by Mizo NGOs, primarily the Young Mizo Association, stalled the process in 2011, 2012 and 2015.

Meanwhile, the Brus began demanding relief on a par with the relief given to Kashmiri Pandits and Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. The Centre spent close to ₹500 crore for relief and rehabilitation until the last peace deal was brokered  since 2015. A final package of ₹435 crore was arrived at in July 2018 and it involved Mizo NG.Os besides the governments concerned.

Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram. Their exodus in 1997 was spurred by violent clashes in Mamith subdivision, a Reang-dominated area, when they demanded creation of an autonomous council that was vehemently opposed by Mizo groups.

The refugees, who have been residing in makeshift camps in Kanchanpur in north Tripura since 1997, constantly refused to return home, citing threats to life and repression. They fled Mizoram amid ethnic tension and Mizo hardline groups always opposed their repatriation attempts.

QUADRIPARTITE AGREEMENT OF 2020

The Centre, the governments of Tripura and Mizoram and representatives of Bru tribe signed a new agreement on January 16, 2020,  to settle the 22-year-old refugee crisis of the community. The over 30,000-strong community that settled in Tripura in the 90s after fleeing ethnic violence in Mizoram will now remain in Tripura, according to the new pact.

In 2018, the government signed an agreement with the stakeholders concerned to send all Bru refugees living in camps in Tripura to Mizoram and settle them there. However, despite a government package providing assistance for relocation, only 328 families chose to go to Mizoram. 

Under the new agreement, a package of Rs 600 crore has been earmarked for a period of two years to help settle the refugees in Tripura. This will include free plots of land, Rs 1.5 lakh assistance to build a house, Rs 4 lakh as fixed deposit for each family, free ration for two years and Rs 5,000 per month as assistance.

Under the 2020 pact, the governments identified 16 potential resettlement locations in four districts of Tripura — North Tripura, Dhalai, South Tripura and Gomati. The agreement was signed by Union Home Minister , Mizoram Chief Minister, Tripura Chief Minister and representatives of the Bru community. Tripura royal scion Kirit Pradyot Deb Barman, who was present for the signing of the agreement,he also offered 35 acres of land for settlement of the Bru refugees.  

In October, 2022, After a 25-year-long battle fought by the Bru refugees to receive resettlement  & identity in Tripura. The High Court of Tripura has finally granted them voting rights. The court’s decision has paved the way for 26000 Bru refugees to play an important role in the electoral politics of Tripura. 

The Bru families were enrolled in the electoral rolls after they received the ROR (Register of Ordinary Residents) from the state government, which is generally provided after the resettlement. 

The ROR is a document of proof of residence in Tripura. Out of the total 37,136 Bru refugees, 21,703 will get enlisted in the electoral rolls of the northeastern state. Immediately after, the pact was signed on January 16 in 2020, locals in Tripura, led by the Joint Movement Committee, staged anti-Bru settlement demonstrations across the state.

FAILURE IN MIZORAM REHABILITATION

The package covered 32,876 members of 5,407 Bru families, entailing a one-time assistance of ₹4 lakh as fixed deposit within a month of repatriation, monthly cash assistance of ₹5,000 through DBT, free rations for two years, and ₹1.5 lakh in three instalments as house-building assistance. The package also included Eklavya residential schools, permanent residential and ST certificates besides funds to the Mizoram government for improving security in Bru resettlement areas.

But most stayed back, demanding resettlement in close-knit clusters and an autonomous council for Brus in Mizoram.The demand to rehabilitate the Brus in Tripura was first raised by Pradyot Manikya, the scion of the Tripura royal family.

According to research worker , Walter Fernandes,  the decision was humanitarian from the point of view of the Brus, who were apprehensive about returning to Mizoram, but felt it could lead to conflicts with the locals of Tripura. 

Delhi-based rights activist Suhas Chakma said it could set a bad precedent, encouraging ethnocentric states to eject minorities of all hues besides making the Brus of Mizoram opt for the rehabilitation package in the relative safety of Tripura. 

Bruno Msha, general secretary of Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), demanded an Autonomous District Council in Mizoram, for their safety & for safeguarding their culture. For them voting rights without an autonomous district council is of no importance.