New Delhi, May 5: The displaced Bru community of Mizoram is set to return home from the refugee camps of Tripura after seven years of uncertainty and hardship. The militant Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) and the Mizoram government have drafted an agreement on rehabilitation of the 40,000-odd members of the tribe who were hounded out of the state in 1997.
“The draft of the accord has been finalised and it will be placed before the cabinet for approval very soon. Almost all contentious issues have been resolved and the accord is likely to be signed after May 25, by which time the poll process will be over,” Mizoram home minister Tawnluia said.
The Brus, also called Reangs, faced an ethnic backlash in Mizoram for demanding an autonomous council under the Sixth Schedule. A memorandum by the Mizoram Bru Refugee Committee to the Union home ministry two years ago said more than 40,000 people of the tribe were sheltered in Tripura.
Since 2001, the government has held 10 rounds of talks with the BNLF leadership. The main stumbling block has been the militant group’s insistence on fulfilment of its eight-point charter of demands before a formal agreement.
The home minister said the BNLF had agreed to lay down arms after signing the proposed accord.
“The BNLF appreciates our concerns and has agreed on the terms of the proposed accord. Though an autonomous council is ruled out, development of the community will be ensured through various schemes,” he said.
The task of bringing the BNLF round to its point of view became easier for the government when the militant group failed to place a feasible set of demands. It began by demanding autonomy, but changed tack later and asked for a development council for the Bru-inhabited areas.
However, even if an understanding is reached, there could be hassles on two counts. First, the Mizoram and Tripura governments have presented varying estimates of the Bru population that was displaced during the 1997 riots. This could impede resettlement, which is expected to be the crux of the proposed accord.
“Brus from other states have infiltrated the refugee camps in Tripura. The Tripura government has estimated that there are 30,000 to 40,000 people in these camps, but our estimate is almost half of that figure,” Tawnluia said.
The home minister, however, said the government would solve the problem “amicably”.
Another potential hurdle is the emergence of a couple of other militant outfits that profess to represent the Bru community. The Bru National Front of Mizoram and the Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram are known to have bases in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.