Asian rights body demands CBI probe into Brus attacks in Mizoram

New Delhi, Nov.20 (ANI): The Asian Centre for Human Rights today urged Home Minister P. Chidambaram to order an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the killing of one Mizo youth identified as Zarzokima on November 13 and the subsequent burning down of villages inhabited by the Brus also known as the Reangs in Mizoram since November 14.

More than 500 houses were reportedly burnt and over 5,000 Brus were displaced and forced to seek refuge in Tripura and Assam.

"As prima-facie evidence do exist to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that the State government and the some Mizo NGOs were behind the premeditated attacks to prevent the return of the Brus from November 14, 2009 and all the major attacks against the minorities took place under Chief Ministership of Pu Lalthanhawla, an inquiry by the CBI is indispensable," stated Suhas Chakma, the Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights.

The ACHR further asserted that in Mizoram, the Congress Party leaders have not been able to rise above their ethnicity and pursued policies against the minorities. All the attacks against the minorities in the State i.e. on the Buddhist Chakma tribals at Marpara in August 1992, deletion of thousands of Chakma citizens from the voters list in Mizoram in 1995 in violation of the 1955 Citizenship Act and 1986 Citizenship Amendment Act and the communal attacks against the Brus in October 1997 took place under the Chief Ministership of Pu Lathanhawla.

No relief assistance, including establishment of relief camps, has been provided to these displaced persons who took shelter in Tripura since November 14.

The ACHR also urged the Centre hold a tripartite meeting consisting of the State Government of Mizoram, Central government and Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples Forum (MBDPF) to workout an agreement for return of the displaced Brus with guarantees for safety, security and proper rehabilitation and to send a clear message to the communal forces in Mizoram; arrest all the culprits and ensure their prosecution through speedy trial and provide assistance to the displaced. (ANI)