BNLF urges Mizoram Govt to declare ceasefire

HAILAKANDI, March 3: The Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF), a militant outfit of Reang (Bru) communities, has asked the Mizoram government to initiate peace parleys with it by declaring a ceasefire in the state. The BNLF has been demanding the creation of a Bru homeland within the State of Mizoram. The organising secretary of the outfit, S Bru through a press statement also warned that if the authorities concerned fail to respond positively to its demand, the organisation may be forced to carry out subversive activities in and around Mizoram. The BNLF leader further said that the onus of responsibility now lies on the state government. The BNLF was formed by some Bru youths in 1996. The Reangs (Brus, meaning 'men' in their language) are one of the most colourful tribes of the Northeastern region living in Tripura, Mizoram and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. They are akin to the Tibeto-Burman tribes of the region, both linguistically and ethnically, and belong to the Bodo group of the Indo-Mongoloid racial stock. Their dialect has been classified as belonging to the Astro-Asiatic group of the Tibeto-Burman family. The press-statement mentioned that the Brus living in Mizoram as peace lovers and having their own culture, language, traditions, customs and usage. Alleging that the Brus have been suppressed and oppressed, the BNLF statement referred to the poor literacy rate. It alleged that though Mizoram stands second with reference to literacy percentage in the country yet the Brus only enjoy ten per cent literacy among more than 85,000 Brus living in the State. The BNLF also said that when the entire country was celebrating its golden jubilee year of its independence, the Brus were forced to leave their homeland (i.e. Mizoram) in 1997 and had to seek shelter in the nearby Hailakandi district of Assam and Kanchanpur sub-division of Tripura.