Settlement of Bru Tribe in Tripura

Recently, a quadripartite agreement was signed among the Centre, state governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives to facilitate permanent settlement of Bru refugees in Tripura with a Rs 600-crore rehabilitation package. This agreement seeks to end the 23 years old Bru refugee crisis.

Settlement of Bru Tribe in Tripura

News Excerpt

Recently, a quadripartite agreement was signed among the Centre, state governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives to facilitate permanent settlement of Bru refugees in Tripura with a Rs 600-crore rehabilitation package. This agreement seeks to end the 23 years old Bru refugee crisis.

Pre Connect

• It will provide huge relief to members of Bru ethnic community who were forced to flee from Mizoram in 1997. This created a refugee crisis in Tripura.
• Initially in 2018, an agreement was signed and a package was sanctioned, but many people did not want to go back to Mizoram due to various vulnerabilities.

Highlights

• The new agreement will provide monetary assistance to create sustainable life for Bru refugees.
• The settlement of Brus will be cluster based.
• Both Centre and States will share the burden of remuneration packages

Analytica

Merits:

• The agreement addresses the insecurities of a tribe that survived and fled violence.
• The decision is humanitarian from the point of view of the Brus, who were apprehensive about returning to Mizoram.
• The Brus would get voting rights in Tripura along with “tribal status”.

Demerits:

• The agreement would encourage the creation of ethnocentric States in the northeast
• It has the potential of creating conflicts between the Brus and indigenous communities of Tripura and Bengalis (as they had to vacate for Brus resettlement)
• Demand for such remuneration package can also be raised by other tribes such as Chakma
• There will also be pressure on the natural resources of the Tripura which already faces paucity of land. This might further escalate Socio-political tensions

Conclusion

This agreement is an important milestone in bringing fast-paced development to the state of Tripura. However, there is a need to weigh in the implementation challenges before doling out administrative reforms.

PEPPER IT WITH

6th Schedule and autonomous district Council, Tribes of North East