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4 days after clash with Chorai community, Brus smell conspiracy
According to police, 13 people, including seven Brus, were injured in the clash on July 26.
Four days after a clash occurred between Bru and Chorai communities over a plot of land at Damcherra in North district of Tripura, Bru leaders claimed that some people having vested interests fuelled the clash and demanded the state to identify and take stern action against them, officials said.
Damcherra is the last village in the state before the Tripura-Mizoram boundary.
According to police, 13 people, including seven Brus, were injured in the clash on July 26 following tension over the land that prevailed among them for at least 15 days.
“We feel that the clash was an instigation by some persons with vested interests. It might be a part of disturbing our resettlement process in Tripura,” said Mizoram Bru Displacement People’s Forum (MBDPF) secretary Bruno Msha. Three other Bru organizations, MBDPC, BTDS and BDWO echoed the same.
Besides, Bru leaders requested the state to provide financial compensation for the injured Brus and accommodate at least 345 Bru families staying at Kaskaopara, one of the rehabilitation camps, at 20 hectares of additional land between Damcherra and Gourangopara, near the interstate boundary along with deployment of security personnel to ensure their protection.
They alleged that the Chorai people threatened them thrice prior to the clash. “We have heard that they (Chorai people) escaped to Assam claiming we had beaten them. Their allegation is totally fake,” said Bruno.
On the issue, police said that over 600 Chorai people fled to Assam and an administrative team from Tripura went there to talk to them.
“We have deployed adequate security forces in the area. The situation is peaceful now. Our state provided the Chorai people with food and medical aid there. They agreed to return to the state. Earlier, we lodged a case regarding the incident and are investigating the matter,” said North district superintendent of police, Bhanupada Chakraborty.
The Brus came to the state in 1997 from three districts of Mizoram, Mamit, Lunglei and Kolasib, following an ethnic clash. Nearly 5,000 were repatriated since 2009, though many returned here due to ethnic tension again.
Nearly 1,600 Bru families have settled at Dhalai and North districts of the state so far, according to a quadripartite agreement signed between the Centre, Tripura and Mizoram governments and Bru leaders in January last year to permanently resettle over 32,000 Brus in Tripura.
The Centre also declared ₹600 crore package for the process.
Their resettlement decision brought several protests by a few local organisations. In one of such protests last year, two persons, including a fireman, were killed leaving 20 others injured.
