Rumours of communal clash spread after empty house on Tripura-Mizoram border torched

An empty farm hut was torched by

unidentified persons near a village along the Tripura-Mizoram border, following which rumours were circulated that a communal clash took place between the Mizos and the Chakmas living the areas, officials said on Tuesday.

The incident came two days after two India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel from Mizoram were assaulted by a mob allegedly hailing from a Tripura village while they were keeping vigil to prevent cross border movement in a bid to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.

A Chakma couple constructed a kutcha house near Kawnpui village in North Tripura district for using it during shifting (jhum) cultivation, Tripura Deputy Inspector General of Police (Northern Range) Lalhminga Darlong said.

 

"The house was set on fire on Monday evening by unidentified persons. However, it has been vacated after the harvest and no casualty was reported," Darlong told PTI.

He said police launched an investigation into the incident at Kawnpui village incident.

Kawnpui is close to Zomuantlang village in Mamit district of Mizoram across the border, where the two IRB personnel were beaten up on Saturday.

Two persons of Kawnpui were arrested in connection with the assault.

Following the arson, rumours were circulated on social media on Tuesday that members of several Mizo organisations clashed with the people of Kawnpui, who were predominantly Chakmas.

Darlong said no such clashes took place.

"There was no communal clash. The situation is under control," he said.

The Tripura police, IRB personnel from Mizoram and local volunteers are making efforts to guard the inter-state border, the DIG said.

B Vanlaltana, president of Mizoram's apex student organisation Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), claimed that the rumours were spread to damage the reputation of the Mizos.

Vanlaltana said he, along with 13 MZP leaders, visited Zomuantlang, Kawnpui and other border villages on Monday to take stock of the situation.

They talked to villagers and police officials of both Mizoram and Tripura, he said.

Central Young Chakma Association president Jatirmoy Chakma told PTI that they are condemning the assault and the arson, and demanded punishment for the culprits.

The Chakma leader also urged people not to communalise the issue.

Chakmas, who are Buddhists, were originally residents of Chittagong Hill Tracts in the erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). They left their homeland when it was submerged by the Kaptai dam project in the 1960s. They also allegedly faced religious persecution and entered India through the then Lushai Hills district of Assam, which is now Mizoram.