Displaced tribesmen hold rally in Mizoram

Naishingpara (Mizoram), Nov 17 (ANI): Hundreds of people belonging to the Reang Tribe joined a rally against rights violation here on Monday.

Violent mobs set afire over 225 huts of Reang tribals, also known as Bru, in around 15 villages in Mamit and Kolashib districts in northeastern Mizoram on Saturday displacing over 5, 000 people.

Activists of Mizoram Displaced People's Forum (MDPF) took out a protest march in Naishingpara in Tripura, slamming the State and Central governments for ignoring their plight.

"This rally is against the human rights violation, which is going on in Mizoram. It's very unfortunate to hear that thousands of houses have been gutted where many Bru people are living in Mizoram. This is the moment when all the displaced persons of Mizoram are expecting repatriation to happen but again it has been proved clearly that the Bru people in Mizoram are not safe as many people are prosecuted and tortured at the moment and many houses have been burnt. So where is the government of India? What are they doing? Where is the law and order in Mizoram?" asked Elvis Chorkhi, member of MDPF.

"We were told to leave our homes as they would burn our houses, so we flee from that area," added Basant, a Reang tribal man.

Thousands of Reang or Bru refugees have been staying in different camps in Tripura after ethnic clashes broke out in 1997.

A tripartite meeting held in Aizawl, capital of Mizoram on November 4 between the representatives of the Central and State governments to repatriate 35,000 Reang migrants from Tripura to Mizoram, failed. (ANI)