Now New Delhi has heard and redressed the problem of around 34,000 Bru-Reang refugees, said former Mizoram Governor Swaraj Kaushal on Sunday.
In an exclusive interview to ANI, Kaushal said: "This is a grand message that the country cares. Why these insurgencies take place because their grievance was that unless you take up weapons, this country does not care, Delhi does not listen. Now Delhi listens and it has heard it and redressed the problem."
The agreement was recently signed between the Central government and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives. Around 34,000 internally displaced Bru people will be settled in Tripura.
"We have a population of 130 crore. This tribe has a population of 2 lakh. Here, we have the Government of India and the Home Minister of India, who are trying to find a solution to a human problem of 2 lakh people of whom 34,000 are worst affected," he said.
When asked about why the agreement signing took so much of time, Kaushal said that earlier state governments did not have a national perspective.
Kaushal served as the Governor of Mizoram between 1990 and 1993.
More From This Section
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday presided over the signing of the agreement between the Central government and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives under which around 34,000 internally displaced people will be settled in Tripura.
Shah said that around 34,000 Bru refugees will be settled in Tripura under the new agreement and the state would be given a package of around Rs 600 crore for their rehabilitation.
They would also get all the rights that normal residents of the states get and they would now be able to enjoy the benefits of social welfare schemes of Centre and state governments, he said.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and Bru refugee representatives.
"I want to thank Narendra Modiji and Amit Shahji for ending this crisis. Nobody was ready to think about the future of Bru refugees. This step is historic," Deb said.
North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) chief Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was also present, said the Bru refugees will enjoy all the facilities.
Zoramthanga had said the pact will permanently solve the 25-year-old "burning issue."
"Today we have signed an important agreement with Bru leaders and the Government of Tripura and the Government of Mizoram. This will permanently solve the burning issue that has been going on for 25 years," he said.
The Brus are spread across Tripura, Mizoram and parts of southern Assam and are ethnically different from the Mizos, with their own distinct language and dialect. They had demanded an Autonomous District Council (ADC), under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution, in western Mizoram.
In 1997, following ethnic tensions, around 5,000 families comprising around 30,000 Bru tribals were forced to flee Mizoram and seek shelter in Tripura. These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur in North Tripura.
Since 2010, the central government has been making sustained efforts to permanently rehabilitate these refugees. The Centre has been assisting the two-state governments of Mizoram and Tripura for taking the care of the refugees. Till 2014, 1,622 Bru families returned to Mizoram in different batches.
On July 3, 2018, an agreement was signed between the central government, the two-state governments and representatives of Bru refugees, as a result of which the aid given to these families was increased substantially.
Subsequently, 328 families comprising of 1,369 individuals returned to Mizoram under the agreement. There had been a sustained demand of most Bru families that they may be allowed to settle down in Tripura, considering their apprehensions about their security.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
