Mizo Govt, BNLF to sign peace MoU

AIZAWL, March 14 ? Mizoram government and the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) might soon sign a memorandum of settlement to end the four-year old Bru insurgency in the State and expedite repatriation of Brus from neighbouring Tripura. Government officials, on the condition of anonymity, told PTI recently that the State government had drafted a memorandum of settlement which would be discussed in the fourth round of talks with the BNLF in the later part of this month or early March. They, however, refused to divulge the terms and conditions of the draft agreement. The officials felt that there could be deadlocks in the future dialogue if the BNLF insisted on its demands for a separate autonomous district council carving out the north-western belt of the State. Mizoram government delegation led by State Chief Secretary H V Kalringa and BNLF representatives led by its home secretary Zaithanga Apeto held the third round of talks here on Monday last. BNLF is a Bru underground organisation fighting the State government since late 1997 and indulging in violent activities like murder, abduction, extortion and other illegal activities.