A day after a section of the Bru refugees forced their leader to walk out of a pact, the Centre and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram today expressed optimism that the final repatriation of the displaced people could be carried out without hiccups.
The Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), the apex body of the refugees lodged in six relief camps in North Tripura for over two decades, however, is sending conflicting signals on the issue.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said there was a conspiracy to stop the Bru people from returning so that the business interests of some people are not affected.
The central government is committed to implement the July 3 tripartite agreement and all the benefits, including cash assistance, would be given to the refugees who abide by it, a Ministry of Home Affairs official said in New Delhi.
Former Special Secretary (internal security) M K Singla is in Tripura to assess the situation, he said.
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As per the tripartite agreement signed by the two state governments and the Centre, as many as 32,876 people belonging to the Bru community will be repatriated from Tripura to Mizoram before September 30. The MBDPF president A Sawibunga also signed the pact.
"The state government is fully prepared to undertake the repatriation process. The Centre only has to release the funds for it," Mizoram Additional Secretary for Home Lalbiakzama said.
"The situation is conducive for repatriation. I do not see any problem which can prevent it. It would take place in due course of time," Sajal Biswas, Sub-divisional Magistrate of Kanchanpur in North Tripura district told PTI.
All the six relief camps are located in Kanchanpur.
Unhappy with the outcome of the tripartite agreement, a group of Bru refugees of Naisingpara relief camp gheraoed Sawibunga and other MBDPF leaders for around four hours yesterday and forced him to withdraw his signature in writing from the pact.
Sawibunga told PTI from Naisingpara that the repatriation might not begin at all as the situation is conducive for that following yesterday's incidents.
"The organisational election is overdue and there are some people who want us out," the MBDPF president said adding that the election could be held soon.
However, MBDPF General Secretary Bruno Msha said, "The situation is normal now in the camps. I hope repatriation of the inmate will start on time."
He claimed that 80 per cent of the refugees "are with with us, and a small section is trying to disrupt the process, but they would not be successful".
Meanwhile, the Tripura CM said, "Three officials have instigated the refugees to hold agitation against repatriation process. They were identified. They did not want the refugees to return because their business would come to end."
These officers got benefits from relief supplies provided for the refugees in camps, Deb said adding that they would be suspended.
Thousands of Brus had been in the Tripura relief camps since late 1997 following a communal tension triggered by the murder of a forest guard inside the Dampa Tiger Reserve on October 21, 1997 by Bru National Liberation Front militants.
The first attempt to repatriate them in 2009 failed and triggered another wave of exodus after the killing of a youth three days before the start of the process.
Though some Bru families had returned to Mizoram during a number of repatriation processes and on their own, many of them refused to leave Tripura.
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