NEW DELHI, May 23 � Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram is embarking on a tour of the North Eastern States of Mizoram and Assam from Tuesday to take stock of the repatriation of Bru refugees and internal security situation.
An official spokesman of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told this newspaper that Chidambaram is tentatively scheduled to arrive at Aizawl on Tuesday and thereafter fly down to Guwahati the next day.
�In Mizoram, Chidambaram is scheduled to hold meetings with Governor Lt Gen (retd) M M Lakhera and Chief Minister, Lalthanhawla and review the ongoing repatriation of the Bru refugees from Tripura. After initial hiccups, the process formally commenced on May 21.
In the first phase about 210 Bru families have been identified for repatriation from Tripura to Mizoram. The repatriation, which was earlier scheduled to start from May 11, was aborted, as a reluctant Mizoram Government failed to provide transportation facilities.
The Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned grants-in-aid of Rs. 2.43 crore to Mizoram for meeting expenditure on repatriation and rehabilitation of Bru families, who had fled to Tripura in November 2009.
On Wednesday, Chidambaram is scheduled to land at Guwahati to essentially review the internal security situation and the recent tension between Assam and Meghalaya over the boundary problem.
He is slated to meet Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and top civil and security officials. The ULFA process hanging fire for some time is expected to figure in the discussion. A keen State Government is pushing the Centre to kick-start the process with the detained top brass of the ULFA.
The Home Minister has been on record as expressing interest to start the talks within the ambit of the Constitution sans the presence of ULFA military chief Paresh Barua. Union Home Secretary GK Pillai has already stated that the Centre is willing to start dialogue with or without Barua�s presence.��
Assam Government is also expected to face some tough questioning over the delay in handing over the investigation of the North Cachar Hills scam to the CBI. As reported by this newspaper the financial scam in N C Hills may come back to haunt Gogoi Government.
The low rate of prosecution of criminal cases, one of the lowest in the country is another issue that Chidambaram is likely to take up with Assam Government.
Chidambaram�s visit incidentally also comes at a time Manipur and Nagaland are on the boil. Apart from meeting officials of Meghalaya and Assam governments, he is also expected to discuss the blockade of NHs in Nagaland.
The Centre as reported earlier has decided not to allow Th. Muivah to go ahead with his visit to Manipur at this stage, even as the NSCN leadership has pitched camp on the Nagaland-Manipur border.
