AIZAWL, Oct 11 - Five more Bru families were repatriated from relief camps in Tripura to their native homes in Mizoram today, a top Mizoram Government official said. Mizoram Home Secretary Lalbiakzama said at least 64 Bru families have returned from Tripura since the commencement of the ninth and final round of repatriation on October 3.
Lalbiakzama said the process to bring back 4,447 Bru families from the six camps in North Tripura district is scheduled to be completed by November 30. He said some �anti-repatriation elements� had obstructed the exercise by organising a road blockade at the Asapara camp on Monday and Wednesday.
Six Bru organisations, including the Mizoram Bru Displaced People�s Forum, which had signed an agreement with the Centre and the governments of Mizoram and Tripura in New Delhi on July 3, 2018, are opposing the repatriation efforts, he said.
Bru leaders like Phillip Apeto, general secretary of the Mizoram Bru Indigenous Democratic Movement, are insisting on creation of a separate autonomous district council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to ensure that those belonging to the community, lodged in relief camps in Tripura for the last 22 years, do not lose their distinctive identity. � PTI
