Homecoming: Displaced Brus go back to their land 21 years later

Of the over 32,000 refugees lodged in the relief camps, there are 12,014 voters – 9,149 of them from Mamit, 1,940 from Kolasib and 925 from Lunglei, all are districts in Mizoram.

Bru voters were transported to Kahnmun, a small town in Mizoram bordering Tripura, in 140 buses and over 100 small vehicles by the BJP government in Tripura. (Photo | Special Arrangement)

GUWAHATI: Thousands of Bru (Reang) voters travelled a distance on Wednesday to go to Mizoram from Tripura to cast votes. Some 40,000 Brus had fled Mizoram 21 years ago in the wake of their clashes with the Mizos. Ever since then, they have been lodged in six relief camps in Tripura.

On Wednesday, the Bru voters were transported to Kahnmun, a small town in Mizoram bordering Tripura, in 140 buses and over 100 small vehicles by the BJP government in Tripura.

Upon their arrival, they were greeted by volunteers of the Young Mizo Association (YMA), which is a Mizo organisation from Mizoram, and the Election Commission (EC). They provided the Bru voters with refreshments. The EC had set up 15 polling stations for the displaced Bru voters at a playground in Kahnmun.

[MIZORAM POLLS 2018- UPDATES]

In the past few elections, the refugees had voted at the relief camps in the presence of election department officials from Mizoram. Ahead of the current election, the Mizoram NGO Coordination Committee, which is a conglomerate of some influential organisations in Mizoram, had demanded that the displaced Brus should be made to cast their votes inside Mizoram and not elsewhere. The YMA was one of the organisations which raised the demand.

The nearest relief camp in Tripura from Kahnmun is located 2 km away. The farthest camp lies at a distance of 57 km.

Of the over 32,000 refugees lodged in the relief camps, there are 12,014 voters – 9,149 of them from Mamit, 1,940 from Kolasib and 925 from Lunglei, all are districts in Mizoram. The Brus are in a large majority in Mamit.

The Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Coordination Committee (MBDPCC) president Laldingliana said a number of Bru voters made their way back to the relief camps after casting votes.

“I don’t know exactly how many of the Bru voters travelled to Mizoram to cast votes but their number will be to the extent of a few thousand. It looks very unlikely that all of them will be able to cast their votes within the stipulated time. I feel the Election Commission will extend the time of voting to enable each one of them to cast votes,” Laldingliana said.