Enewstime Desk
Agartala, January 23, 2020:Agartala, January 23, 2020: Thousands of non-tribals rallied at Dasda under Kanchanpur in North Tripura. They were demanding rehabilitation of non-tribals who were displaced due to migration of 34,000 Bru Reangs from Mizoram 23 years ago. Migrated Bru Reangs took shelter in relief camps in North Tripura after they fled from their native place in Mizoram after a violent ethnic clash in 1997. Hundreds of non-tribal people were displaced due to these Bru reang, local non-tribals claimed.
Meanwhile, an agreement signed in New Delhi on January 16 last, stated that those Bru Reang people among the 34,000 migrants unwilling to go back to Mizoram, would be rehabilitated in Tripura under a Rs 600 crore package.
Rally in North Tripura for displaced non-tribals
This agreement reportedly sparked dissent among local non-tribal people of Kanchanpur sub-division as locals were demanding immediate repatriation of Bru Reangs. Today, around 15,000 people, mostly non-tribals under the banner of the Nagarik Suraksha Manch (citizen protection platform) on Thursday held a rally in northern Tripura’s Dasda area under Kanchanpur sub-division demanding rehabilitation of the displaced non-tribal people, mostly Bengali community.
According to the January 16 agreement, each Reang tribal refugee family would get a plot to construct a house, along with a monetary aid.
In the backdrop of the agreement, the Nagarik Suraksha Manch held a massive public meeting at Dasda Durga Reang Para today and observed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday. The Day was observed as “Desh Prem Divas”.
Huge gathering in Kanchanpur rally
Advocate Chandan Dey from Rashtriya Satkatha Samaj and Kaushik Maiti of Bangla Pakshya Kolkata were present in the programme. Ranjit Nath president of Nagarik Suraksha Mancha presided over the meeting.
Rally of non-tribals: Major demand
The organization placed an 11 point charter of demands and major demand of the organization was to send back the Bru refugees to their original land in Mizoram.
Ranjit Nath – the president of the Manch said, “In the recent strike called by Joint movement committee of the refugees, altogether 92 families have been displaced. Houses were ransacked, properties were set on fire and cattle were hijacked. All those families had taken shelter at Anandabazar police camp. This recent displacement of about 450 people had added up the figures to 6000 such displaced Bengali people over the years—since the time refugees took shelter in the refugee camps.”
He also claimed that the recent decision taken in New Delhi meeting would affect the entire demographic balance of the area and adjoining constituencies.
“If the refugees are settled here as per the pact signed in New Delhi, definitely all of the 35,000 refugees will be spread out in the adjoining constituencies resulting in a new problem— many of the general constituencies will leave the status of being so and certainly these will turn into reserved constituencies. The only solution to this problem is to send them back to Mizoram according to the four-corner agreement signed in March 2018” Nath added.
Apart from this, adequate security arrangements, settlement package for Bengali displaced people and many more made space in the demand draft.
