Insurgency / Mizoram

Aizawl, June 13: Mizoram Opposition leader and PCC chief Lalthanhawla has accused chief minister Zoramthanga of being responsible for the presence of Manipur militants in the state. Lalthanhawla, who toured Zoramthanga’s constituency, Champhai, last week, said the Zomi Revolutionary Organisation (ZRO) and members of its armed wing were present in the state, especially in Champhai constituency bordering Manipur, because they enjoyed the support of the chief minister.

During his tour, the Opposition leader alleged that the MNF owed the ZRO money for “services rendered”, which the ZRO was...

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...

Aizawl, Feb. 12: The 1st Assam Rifles (Lushai Hills) battalion has found a champion in the state branch of the Public Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), in face of the home ministry threat to pull it out of Mizoram.

In a letter to deputy chief minister L.K. Advani, who holds the home portfolio, the PUCL outlined the battalion?s history and said it was the true symbol of nationhood to the Mizo people.

Explaining the role of Laldenga, the late founder of the Mizo National Front (MNF), in the steps taken towards the removal of the 1st Assam Rifles from the state, the PUCL said Laldenga had taken...

AIZAWL, Feb 2 ? The 10th round of talks between the Mizoram Government and the Tripura-based underground Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) might run into rough weather even as both the sides expressed optimism that they would settle the Bru problem this time around.

An official, who is involved in the negotiations, told PTI on condition of anonymity that the State Government was having serious doubts that the agreement to be made with the BNLF would end the Bru insurgency against Mizoram.

?We doubt that the BNLF would be able to rein in Bru underground splinter groups like tha Bru National...

Silchar, Jan. 14: The militant Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) has indicated it is no longer averse to accepting the Mizoram government?s condition that all members of the outfit must lay down weapons before a peace accord is signed. If the BNLF says yes, it will be the second such concession by the Bru group in the past two years.

The militants first gave up the demand for an autonomous district council to administer the Bru-dominated areas of northwest Mizoram. They instead settled for a development council based on the model of limited autonomy, which was granted to the Hmar tribe in...

Silchar, June 6: Bru refugees displaced from Mizoram after ethnic riots and settled in relief camps in North Tripura since November 1997, have demanded the Centre?s intervention to resolve their repatriation problem.

Bruno Msha, president of the Mizoram Bru Refugee Committee, said here recently that it was high time the Centre intervened to resolve the impasse. He said more than 3,600 refugees have died of various diseases in the camps in the past six years.

He regretted that since the last round of talks between the Bru refugee leaders and the Mizoram government in 2001, no major initiative...

AGARTALA, May 26 ? Central Government has extended a financial help of Rs 10.99 crore in the last financial year for the displaced Reang refugees presently sheltered in six camps at Kanchanpur.

The Reangs had come to North Tripura from adjacent Mizoram following fierce ethnic conflict between the Bru (Reang) and Lushai (Mizo) communities in October 1997. The exodus from Mizoram began on the night of October 15 and in phases the Reangs under constant threat and persecution from the majority community poured in the North district.

Several rounds of talks among the representatives of displaced...

AGARTALA, April 26 — In what can be called a fresh initiative for dialogue with the Mizoram government for early repatriation of the Reang (Bru) refugees presently sheltered in six camps in North Tripura district, a high level team of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) headed by a special secretary will visit the Reang (Bru) refugee camps. The team would among other things, ascertain the actual number of refugees in the six camps in Kanchanpur subdivision.

According to official sources, the central team will arrive at Agartala on April 30 next to settle the dispute over the total number of...

NEW DELHI, April 4 – Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has opposed granting of any local administrative powers to Reang tribals, many of whom have migrated to the state from neighbouring Tripura, reports PTI.

“We are trying to find an amicable solution to the problem .... but are opposed to their demand for administrative powers,” Zoramthanga told PTI after a 20-minute meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani here, on Thursday. The Reangs shifted out from Tripura about two years ago alleging harassment by other tribes.

Zoramthanga said the Centre also did not approve of granting any...

AIZAWL, Dec 30 — In a welcome break from the past, Mizoram was largely free from militancy throughout 2002 but collapse of peace talks with Bru militants and frequent agitations by state government employees demanding pay hike from a cash-strapped administration remained areas of concern during the year, reports PTI. Stray militancy-related incidents hit some of the state’s areas bordering Manipur but no civilian or security personnel lost lives due to militant activities, in sharp contrast to previous years. However, more than 70 associations of state government employees frequently launched...