Not ad-hoc arrangement but lasting solution: Swaraj Kaushal on Bru refugee pact

The repatriation agreement to resettle around 34,000 Bru refugees in Tripura is not an ad-hoc arrangement but a solution that will last, said former Mizoram Governor Swaraj Kaushal on Sunday.

"This agreement is a solution, one that is going to last. It's so well important. There are so much of good intentions behind this," Kaushal, who served as the Governor of Mizoram between 1990 and 1993, told in an exclusive interview.

"The Bru people have been in camps for more than 23 years. The agreement is to settle them permanently so that they lead a life of dignity. In the camps, everything is missing," he said.

"What is missing is home. What is missing is the land. What is missing is the health and what is missing is school. The best thing about this agreement is that it is not an ad-hoc arrangement," he said.

Kaushal also underlined that the agreement reflects the country's resolve about national security and the compassion of the government.

"All these years, Delhi has been too far from the North-East and the North-East has been far too remote from it. The Reangs are Indian citizens. Look at their strategical location. The total population is about two lakh. One lakh Reangs are there in Tripura and nearly 65,000 in Mizoram. These 65,000 Bru refugees are all along the border, then with East Pakistan and now Bangladesh," Kaushal said when asked if there was any national security angle to the agreement.

"They are all along the rivers and Indo-Bangladesh border. The fact is that Reangs are one of those tribes, which is your first line of defence. You cannot ignore this. I am happy that the government thought of this," he further said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday presided over the signing of an agreement between the Central government and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives under which around 34,000 internally displaced people will be settled in Tripura.

Shah said that around 34,000 Bru refugees will be settled in Tripura under the new agreement and the state would be given a package of around Rs 600 crore for their rehabilitation.

They would also get all the rights that normal residents of the states get and they would now be able to enjoy the benefits of social welfare schemes of Centre and state governments, he said.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and Bru refugee representatives.

"I want to thank Narendra Modiji and Amit Shahji for ending this crisis. Nobody was ready to think about the future of Bru refugees. This step is historic," said Deb.

North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) chief Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was also present, said the Bru refugees will enjoy all the facilities.

Zoramthanga had said the pact will permanently solve the 25-year-old "burning issue."

"Today we have signed an important agreement with Bru leaders and the Government of Tripura and the Government of Mizoram. This will permanently solve the burning issue that has been going on for 25 years," he said.

The Brus are spread across Tripura, Mizoram, and parts of southern Assam and are ethnically different from the Mizos, with their own distinct language and dialect. They had demanded an Autonomous District Council (ADC), under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution, in western Mizoram.

In 1997, following ethnic tensions, around 5,000 families comprising around 30,000 Bru tribals were forced to flee Mizoram and seek shelter in Tripura. These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur in North Tripura.

Since 2010, the central government has been making sustained efforts to permanently rehabilitate these refugees. The Centre has been assisting the two state governments of Mizoram and Tripura for taking the care of the refugees. Till 2014, 1,622 Bru families returned to Mizoram in different batches.

On July 3, 2018, an agreement was signed between the central government, the two state governments and representatives of Bru refugees, as a result of which the aid given to these families was increased substantially.

Subsequently, 328 families comprising of 1,369 individuals returned to Mizoram under the agreement. There had been a sustained demand of most Bru families that they may be allowed to settle down in Tripura, considering their apprehensions about their security.

( With inputs from ANI )