Bru repatriation put on hold in view of Mizoram Assembly polls

Aizawl, Oct 13: The ongoing Bru repatriation from relief camps in north Tripura to Mamit district of Mizoram is to be put on hold until the Assembly poll process is completed in Mizoram, officials said.

Mamit district Deputy Commissioner V Lalremthanga, who is also the chairman of the district core committee on Bru Repatriation, told PTI that the decision was taken during Election Commission Director General Ashish Srivastava's visit to relief camps in north Tripura on Wednesday and Thursday.

"As the repatriated Brus are to be given Rs 80,000 per family as part of their rehabilitation and resettlement package, resumption of the repatriation process could be construed as being an attempt to select new beneficiaries and extend financial assistance to them," Lalremthanga said.

State joint chief electoral officer H Lalengmawia also said that the repatriation process was to be deferred while the polls were on as continuing with it would be in violation of the model code of conduct. The Mamit district core committee on Bru repatriations, in association with the Bru Coordination Committee, has identified 69 families lodged at the Khakchangpara, Kaskau and Hampsapara relief camps who are willing to be repatriated.

There was a plan to repatriate them beginning the later part of this week. The plan, however, was put off after Srivastava's visit. A proposed meeting of the District Core Committee on Bru Repatriation, which was scheduled to have been held last Wednesday was also deferred indefinitely.

The meeting was to have chalked out a detailed programme for the repatriation of the 69 families. Mizoram Assembly elections are scheduled for December 4 with the counting of votes to be done on December 8. More than 90 families have been repatriated during a self- repatriation process which started on September 30.

PTI