Centre sets deadline for Mizoram to take back Reangs

NEW DELHI, August 8: In a significant development, the Union Government on Monday set deadlines for Mizoram Government to take back the Reang refugees currently taking shelter in neighbouring Tripura, in a fresh attempt to resolve the Reang refugee problem. Although the settlement, arrived at a tripartite meeting convened by the Ministry of Home Affairs with the state governments of Mizoram and Tripura, here on Monday left the Left Front government all smiles, it had a reverse effect on its Mizoram counterpart. The meeting, chaired by the Union Home Minister, LK Advani was attended by Tripura Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, Mizoram, Home Minister, Tawnluia, besides top government official including the Union Home Secretary, Kamal Pande. According to the agreement hammered out at the meeting, Mizoram government was given a deadline of December 31 for completing verification process of the refugees currently settled in the neighbouring state. In the first phase, verification of the first batch of some 16,000 displaced persons is to be completed and taken back. In second phase, verification of the rest of the total 31,511 persons belonging to 6,956 families was directed to be completed so that they are taken back by December 31. Tripura government had supplied a list of the displaced persons to its counterpart in Mizoram. At the meeting, Mizoram government confirmed having received the list and informed the Centre that its district administration was in process of verifying the list. A spokesman of the Ministry told newsmen that the state government was told that the process needed to be expedited. The Centre has also assured the Mizoram government that a tripartite committee of the state Government, Central Government and the Reangs would be set up to simultaneously sort out the outstanding issues, the spokesman added. As for those misplace persons under dispute, the Centre proposed to set up a joint verification committee comprising the states of Tripura, Mizoram and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), besides the representatives of the Reang refugees. In a major concession of the Tripura Government, the Centre on Monday agreed to reimburse the sum of Rs 22.25 crore the state had spent on the refugees since 1997. The state has been demanding its reimbursement as they pointed out that it was an additional burden on their exchequer. As for the issue of the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF), the Centre appears to have downplayed the problem saying that the Mizoram and Tripura governments have been asked to open a dialogue with them. The officials at the MHA feel that the outfit is in a nascent state and the state should not have any problem in tackling the ultras. The Mizoram Government officials, however, contradicted the MHA by stating that the BNLF has to give up militancy and surrender before the state Government takes them back. They claimed that the outfit had been targeting Mizoram Government officials. The resolution of the Reang refugee issue has taken a political colour with the BJP, under pressure from the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, adopting a tough stand on the issue. The organisations have been crying hoarse over alleged maltreatment of the Reang refugees at the hands of the Mizoram government. The MHA spokesman said that the Government of India would be playing an active role in resolving the impasse and to arrange repatriation of the displaced persons, reflecting the new thinking in the Ministry. The spokesman also added that the Mizoram government was obligated to take back the refugees according to the 1997 agreement between the Union Home Ministry and the state Government. The Mizoram government officials have predictably not taken kindly to the latest development by asserting that they have not made any commitment to the Centre. A spokesman of the state Government told this newspaper that they would take back only those displaced persons who were original settlers in the state. They have also taken a tough stand on the BNLF by stipulating that it has to give up militancy. They also raised doubts about the intentions of the militant outfit by alleging that both the president and general secretary of the BNLF were from Assam and had nothing to do with Mizoram.