At least 64 Bru families repatriated so far

Aizawl: With five families returning to Mizoram-Tripura border Mamit district on Friday, at least 64 Bru families have been repatriated since commencement of the ninth and final repatriation process from October three, Mizoram home secretary Lalbiakzama said.

Lalbiakzama said that the repatriation process, to bring back 4,447 Bru families from the six relief camps in North Tripura district, was scheduled to be completed by November 30.

He said that anti-repatriation elements were obstructing the officials from Mizoram to conduct the exercise by organising road blockade at Asapara relief camp on Monday and Wednesday last while some leaders reportedly warned willing families not to return to Mizoram.

He, however, said there were a number of families who had reported willingness to be repatriated without informing the organisations opposed to it in the relief camps.

Six Bru organisations, including the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), which had signed an agreement with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the state governments of Mizoram and Tripura in Delhi on July three, 2018 openly opposed the repatriation efforts, he said.

Bru leaders like Phillip Apeto, general secretary of the Mizoram Bru Indigenous Democratic Movement (MBIDM), said that they continued to demand the creating of a separate autonomous district council under the sixth schedule of the Constitution to ensure that the Bru community, which have been lodged in the relief camps for 22 years, does not lose its identity.