AIZAWL, Jan 27 - The Bru repatriation scheduled to begin from second week of February is likely to run into yet another roadblock as the Bru leaders on Wednesday made it clear that they will stick to their long-standing demands.
Mizoram Bru Displaced People�s Forum (MBDPF), umbrella organisation of Bru refugees lodged in six relief camps in North Tripura, wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, reiterating its 13-point demands.
The MBDPF, in its letter to Singh on January 24, sought his intervention on the issue of the Bru repatriation and reconsider the present package of the repatriation.
The Bru organisation alleged that the Mizoram Government�s Bru repatriation programme was not realistic and practical. �No step has been taken for development and their (Bru refugees) survival. It is just for show and making evidence in front of others to draw money from the Central Government. No single legitimate demand of the Brus has been accepted by Mizoram Government and the latter is extremely rigid and strong on its stand,� the letter said.
The MBDPF also reiterated its 13-point demand to the Union Home Minister which are to be fulfilled by the Mizoram Government.
The demands included allotment of five acres of land to each repatriated family for permanent cultivation, resettlement of the Brus in Dampa sanctuary, provision of government job to at least one member of each family, granting the Brus the status of Kashmiri Pundits, formation of village grouping with no less than 500 families with all basic amenities, drinking water, schools, electricity and healthcare. Other demands include PMGAY to all repatriated families, implementation of primitive tribal group (PTG) status exclusively for the Bru people, deployment of Central security forces around the resettlement area for up to five years, provision of special police officers (SPOs) on the pattern of Tripura by recruiting youths from the Bru community, etc.
