Bru migrants block national highway in Tripura, seek fulfilment of promises made in 2020 pact

“Four years have passed since resettlement… but nothing has been said about land. We are dependent on agriculture. We don’t have an interest in business and don’t expect government jobs. If we don’t get a solution by today [Friday], we can start a hunger strike tomorrow,” said an agitator.

Laldingliana, General Secretary, Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Coordination Committee (MBDPCC), was also seen at the rally.

When asked if they would continue their agitation, Laldingliana said, “It depends on the assurances of the sub-divisional magistrate whether we will continue our movement or withdraw it.”

Thirty-seven thousand Bru migrants fled ethnic clashes in Mizoram in 1997 and were sheltered in six relief camps in North Tripura district. Nearly 5,000 returned in nine phases of repatriation but almost the same number fled during renewed clashes in 2009 and came to Tripura.

On January 16, 2020, a quadripartite pact was signed among the Centre, state governments of Tripura and Mizoram, and the Bru migrants to permanently resettle the migrants in Tripura.

The pact was inked two years after another agreement that sought to repatriate the Bru migrants to Mizoram was rejected by the migrants ‘over not being properly consulted’.