Tripura: Indefinite Strike Over Anti-Bru Resettlement Protest ‘Temporarily’ Called Off

Agartala: Three days after two persons died in an anti-Bru resettlement protest in Tripura, which also left several people injured, the Joint Movement Committee – the forum leading the agitation – on Tuesday decided to call off their indefinite strike ‘temporarily’ after they received assurance from the government on considering their demands.

JMC convener Sushanta Baruah said they were assured at a marathon meeting with elected public representatives and government officials on Monday that their demands would be considered positively.

In the meeting, the agitators demanded Rs 20 lakh compensation for their supporter who was killed in police firing, a government job to his next kin as per the qualification, treatment for those injured in the clash with police and a financial package for reparation of damaged vehicles and property in the incident.

On the settlement of the Bru migrants, the convener said they were assured that the migrants would be settled equally across six districts of Tripura and no undue pressure would be exerted on any one place.

Background

On Saturday, a clash erupted between protesters and security forces, during a blockade of national highway (NH) 08 in Panisagar sub-division, following which two persons – including a Tripura Fire Service official – died, while several left injured. The protests were against rehabilitation of the Bru displaced people in the Kanchanpur sub-division of Tripura North district.

The Joint Movement Committee – jointly formed by agitators of Nagarik Suraksha Mancha and Mizo Convention – protested against the state government's rehabilitation plan, fearing that they might lose their ‘ancestral land’ to Bru migrants.

On January 16, a quadripartite agreement was signed in New Delhi among the Centre, state governments of Tripura and Mizoram, and leaders of the Bru community to settle around 34,000 internally displaced Brus permanently in Tripura.

Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions of Tripura North district share the inter-state boundary of Assam and Mizoram.

The JMC relaunched the indefinite strike on Monday in Kanchanpur against the Bru settlement in the sub-division.

Police try to stop members of the Joint Movement Committee (JMC) who were staging a protest against the resettlement of displaced Bru migrants, at Panisagar in North Tripura district, Saturday. Photo: PTI

Protests turn violent

Police informed that on November 21, 2020, as part of the extensive agitation, the forum blocked NH 08 which connects Tripura with Assam and the rest of the country at Chamtila under Panisagar sub-division, which is around 55 kilometer from Kanchanpur sub-division. During the protest, the agitators purportedly turned violent and tried to snatch weapons from security personnel, during which the personnel charged lathis and opened blank fire, and then fired at the uproarious mob on the order of the authority.

During police firing, Srikanta Das (46), a carpenter who joined the road blockade, died on the spot with a bullet injuries.

According to the police, at least 32 others including 18 protesters and 14 police and fire service personnel, sustained injuries.

However, one 30-year old Biswajit Debbarma, a fireman who was brutally lashed with lathis by the angry mob, had sustained severe head injuries and multiple traumas during the assault. He later succumbed to his injuries at GB Pant Hospital in Agartala on Saturday late night.

Soon after the incident, state law minister Ratan Lal Nath ordered a magisterial inquiry on the incident to be conducted by the North district magistrate Nagesh Kumar B. The report of the investigation has to be submitted in ‘within one month'.

The local administration has imposed section 144 under Criminal Code Procedure in the sub-divisions.

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What did the protesters demand?

Speaking to The Wire, convener of JMC Sushanta Barua had said they had started this protest with an 'indefinite strike' to save their ‘ancestral land’ and claimed that the settlement of the Brus in the Kanchanpur sub-division would have a social, economic, political, and demographic impact, and alleged that communal harmony has deteriorated in the sub-division since the arrival of Brus in 1997.

“The government had once assured us that they would only settle 1,500 Brus in the sub-division, but now they are planning to settle around 5,000 families here in Kanchanpur sub-division. The government has proposed to set up six out of 12 resettlement sites at Kanchanpur alone. Protesting the decision of the government we had called for an indefinite strike and were protesting peacefully by blockading the national highway 08 in the Chamtilla area under the Panisagar sub-division. But, suddenly security forces started to open firing on us which resulted in the death of one person on spot and left several injured.”

Their demands include that not more than 500 families would be resettled in Kanchanpur, cancellation of all tenders floated by all departments for resettlement of the Brus, equal distribution of Brus in six districts of the state and resettlement of the Mizo, Bengali families who were displaced following an alleged clash with the Brus.

However, on the settlement, the officials of Kanchanpur sub-divisional administration said that decisions are yet to be taken to settle the Brus in Kanchanpur sub-division.

“Selection of families of resettlement is still in progress and no figure can be pointed out now,” a senior official from Tripura North district administration said on condition of anonymity.

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The new arrangement

Reacting to the issue, Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) general secretary Bruno Msha said that the displaced people are living in an unfolded fear in the relief camps and claimed that acute crisis of food and money is prevailing in the camps due to the strike.

“We have not received our rations. People are living in fear and uncertainty. Such protests had never taken place earlier. We lived peacefully. The government is settling us in government land, forest land, not on private land. So what’s the point of protest? It is very unfortunate. We appeal the government to take necessary steps to ensure law and order situation”, he said.

Under the new arrangement, as per the final quadripartite agreement, each of the displaced families would be given 40x30 sq. ft. residential plots, in addition to the aid under the earlier agreement – a fixed deposit of Rs 4 lakh, Rs 5,000 cash aid per month for two years, free ration for two years and Rs 1.5 lakh aid to build their house.

Since 1997 over 37, 000 displaced Brus fled Mizoram in the wake of ethnic violence. They sought shelter in the adjoining Tripura. They took shelter in six relief camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions of Tripura North district, around 170 kilometers away from Agartala.

Since 2009, at least 5,000 Brus have returned to Mizoram in the ninth phase of repatriation from Tripura, and the remaining others are now living in the relief camps.

The CPI(M) Politburo member and former chief minister of Tripura Manik Sarkar condemned the situation and held responsible the BJP-led state government for the violence.

He also demanded the government to bear all the responsibility of treatment and immediate investigation on the matter.

However, the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee chief Pijush Kanti Biswas demanded a judicial probe on the matter by a judge of high court.

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