Mizoram: Bru refugees to finally move back to Mizoram from Tripura
After 22 years, as many as 32,876 Bru refugees who fled from Mizoram to neighbouring Tripura and have been residing there since in six relief camps will finally return home before this September 30.
According to the Union ministry of home affairs, the relief camps will be closed in October.
The communal tension between the Bru and the majority Mizo community, which triggered the exodus in 1996, has been long drawn, leading to the birth of the armed group Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF), and the political wing Bru National Union (BNU), which demanded an autonomous district akin to the Chakmas in the state.
The battle lines were firmly drawn in 1995 when the powerful Young Mizo Association and Mizo Students Association opposed the presence of Brus in the state’s electoral rolls claiming that they are not indigenous to the state. Things took an ugly turn on October 21, 1996, when the BNLF shot dead a Mizo official, triggering communal riots in which many Bru villages were burnt down, pushing them to flee to neighbouring North Tripura. They have since been staying at the relief camps in Tripura’s Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions.
Till now, the Union home ministry has reportedly allocated Rs 346.97 crore to the Tripura government for their upkeep.
Though a set of refugees comprising 1,622 Bru families with 8,573 members were resettled in Mizoram in 2010 with the Centre allocating Rs 68.90 crore to the state government for the purpose, it has not been able to complete the repatriation process due to massive opposition by Mizo organisations and fresh demands from the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF), the community’s representative outfit. Many have also expressed fear of being attacked again if they return home.
Credit: PTI
The fresh round of talks that led to the July 4 agreement of the Central and state government with MBDPF has come after three years of negotiations, including a lingering process of the Mizoram government identifying them as its residents based on the 1996 electoral rolls. Though MBDPF had demanded more political rights from the Centre as a condition for repatriation, the Centre didn’t agree to it and even threatened to dry up the financial allocation given to the Tripura government for their relief.
As per the July 4 repatriation pact, the Bru or Reang refugees comprising 5,407 families would be settled back in their villages in Kolasib and Mamit districts of the state. Each of the 5,407 families will get financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh, which will be locked in fixed deposit for two years under the name of the head of the family on the condition that they would not leave their villages for at least three years. Besides giving a one-time assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh to each family to build a dwelling (in three installments), they would be given cash assistance of Rs 5,000 per month till two years and free ration, also for two years.
The total cost of the package is pegged at Rs 435 crore by the MHA. This money will also include the setting up of police posts and border outposts by the Mizoram government besides the one-teacher Ekalavya residential schools. The refugees will also be provided free of charge carriage facility to their villages. Before they move back, the Tripura government will issue them Aadhar cards, help open bank accounts, and update their ration cards. The Mizoram government is to ensure their access to Jhum cultivation, issue permanent residential certificates and the Scheduled Tribe certificates.
Interestingly, the pact has come at a time when Mizoram is set for a crucial assembly election this December. As per media reports quoting the Union home ministry, they would be able to vote in the polls, which means the Central government has succeeded in putting an added feature to the upcoming elections, at least in six assembly constituencies that come under these districts.
The Congress, with two consecutive terms in office, would fight anti-incumbency against the main opposition, the Mizo National Front (MNF), and its ally, the BJP, which has been talking about a Congress Mukt Northeast for some time now. The Lal Thanhawla government in Mizoram is the only Congress government in the region. With the arrival of these refugees, the electoral rolls of the state, last updated in 2014, will have to be revised prior to the polls.
Manipur: Eviction drive in Muslim areas of Imphal leads to tension, bandh
Over 80 houses belonging to Pangal (Meitei Muslim) community of Manipur have been demolished by state authorities since July 2, based on the claim that they had created villages by encroaching reserve forest land and paddy land protected under the Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2014.
The demolition drive has triggered a 72-hour bandh called by the All Manipur Muslim Organization’s Coordinating Committee (AMMOCC). The bandh began on July 2. Some vehicles were reportedly burnt by protesters following a confrontation with the police on the morning of July 2 morning during the eviction drive in which at least five people were injured.
The eviction drive in Imphal. Courtesy: Imphal Free Press
The state forest department had issued an eviction notice to the families in Khetri Begoon, Khetri Awang Ching, Mantripukhri and adjoining areas in the Imphal East district this past March, and attempted to carry out a demolition drive in Awang Ching area soon after it, leading to instant protest. In a press meet on March 9 in Imphal, AMMOCC president S.L. Jalal Sheikh reportedly questioned why the drive was “intentionally started from a Muslim inhabited area” even though “there are many paddy fields which people use for different purposes” in violation of the Act. He said, “People inhabiting the area are indigenous people as they have been settled there since 1976. The village has a masjid, a government school, an anganwadi centre, electricity and water facilities.”
Though a 32-hour bandh was called by AMMOCC on April 10, the bandh was lifted that evening following an agreement with the state government that the organization would give the chief minister N Biren Singh three weeks’ time to find “an amicable solution” to the issue. However, in a memorandum submitted by AMMOCC to the state government on July 2 accused the CM of backtracking from the earlier agreement. It was followed by the 72-hour bandh. Local media reports said the bandh “affected normal life at Minuthong, Hatta, Top Khongnangkhong and Khabeisoi area in Imphal East by cutting off connectivity with the Imphal West.”
On July 3, chief minister N. Biren denied AMMOCC’s accusation of targeting Muslims by the BJP-led government. Speaking at a public meeting in Imphal, he said, “There is no question of targeting the minority community” and the houses were demolished “as the area falls under reserved forest land.” He said such drives would continue and would take place in all districts of the state.
The CM said though AMMOCC leaders, during the March meeting with him, reminded him about a pending court case on the encroachment issue but in due course of time, the court entrusted the state forest department and the Green Tribunal with the responsibility of taking necessary action as the area falls under reserved forest land. He said, “The government issued notice to the residents on time and evicted (them) from their houses yesterday (July 2).”
On July 2, state forest minister Th. Shyamkumar also told reporters in a press meet that the eviction drive would continue “without bias to any group of people and it is not done at the interest of one community”. He said during the eviction, “a masjid was spared as religious structures were excluded as per law.
On July 3, reports said, “A huge complex of Nongpok Chingu Thong Thalo Sipi Lok was destroyed. It is a local religious complex composite of residential buildings, a temple and a community hall including other structures. In the destruction, the temple was spared.”
Meanwhile, those evicted have taken temporary shelter at a government school and tents and are urging the authorities for assistance as the state is witnessing torrential rains.
Meghalaya: MLA Agatha Sangma resigns from South Tripura seat to pave way for brother Conrad Sangma to contest polls to remain CM
Agatha Sangma, MLA from Meghalaya’s South Tura constituency, has put in her papers to pave the way for her brother and National People’s Party (NPP) chief Conrad Sangma to contest the by-elections.
Sangma, who was sworn in as the state chief minister on March 6, will have to win an assembly seat by September to be able to continue in his post.
The chief minister, who also represents the Tura Lok Sabha seat, hasn’t yet resigned from it. It seems after winning the assembly seat and his subsequent resignation from the LS seat, it will be open to Agatha to contest from it as she had also represented the Tura seat in 2009. Media reports quoting Agatha said her party would decide accordingly.
Agatha Sangma. Credit: PTI
On July 3, a day after submitting her resignation to deputy speaker Timothy D. Shira from the state assembly, Agatha said she vacated it “since there was limited time” before her brother could contest the elections and the South Tura seat seemed the “most practical” one.
As per news reports, Sangma will be the common candidate of all the parties, including the BJP, that entered into the post poll alliance to form the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government.
Manipur: Tribal students’ organisations call ‘indefinite bandh’ over failure of the state govt to appoint tribal language teachers in HS schools
Beginning July 6, four tribal students’ bodies – the Thadou Students’ Association, General Headquarters (TSA-GHQ), Siamsinpawlpi, General Head Quarters (SSPP-GHQ), Rongmei Naga Students’ Organisation, North East India (RSO-NEI) and Liangmei Naga Katimai Ruangdi (LNKR-AMN) – have called a state-wide “indefinite bandh”, alleging failure of the Manipur government to recruit tribal language teachers in the state’s higher secondary schools.
Another demand of the students is “return of normalcy” in the Manipur University which has been witnessing a strike for over a month, “affecting “the academic career of many students”.
The bandh has affected normal life in the tribal areas of Manipur. Credit: Special arrangement
As per local news reports on July 6, the bandh affected normal life, mainly in the tribal areas of the state, including Jiribam, Tamenglong, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal areas. Reports said traffic in the Imphal-Moreh highway, Imphal-Dimapur highway and the Imphal-Jiribam highway was affected. The local police is said to have carried out a few arrests of student leaders in some areas, including Churachandpur.
A press statement signed by the representatives of the tribal students’ bodies on July 4 said that “they are compelled” to call the bandh as the state government failed to fulfil its promises regarding the appointment of the teachers. It said the student bodies “served an ultimatum to the state government on June 26 through press communique and also submitted the copy to both the chief minister and the education minister demanding immediate action” by issuing notification for recruitment of the teachers “on or before June 30.”
However, on July 5, state education director Th. Kirankumar called the bandh call “unreasonable” and appealed to the student bodies to “call it off at the earliest”. Media reports quoting him said the state education department had sent a proposal to the government for appointment of 688 higher secondary school teachers on contract basis. It included 42 posts for teachers in nine tribal languages — Mizo, Paite, Hmar, Tangkhul, Thadou Kuki, Jhou, Vaiphei, Kom and Rongmei.
However, the state cabinet approved only 408 posts initially which the department is now trying to fill up. Since the cabinet approval for the posts of tribal language teachers came only on June 26, he said, the process will take a while as “concurrence from the finance department” will have to be received before his department issues a notification to fill up those vacancies.
He said the student bodies had gone ahead with the bandh even though he explained it to them, “ignoring the assurance of the department”.
Meanwhile, many tribal student bodies and civil society organisations, including the United Naga Council (UNC), have opposed the bandh as it is affecting normal life. All Tribal Students Union (ATSUM), the apex tribal student body in the state, has also appealed to the student bodies to call off the bandh, reportedly stating that it “is consistently pursuing the issue of recruitment” of the teachers as per its charter of demands given to the state government “and is on the verge of implementation”.