The Brus living in Mizoram fled to Tripura in 1997 facing persecution at the hands of a section of Mizos and have been living in the state as refugees. There were many attempts to settle them in Mizoram — but all were fruitless. Most of the Bru refugees refused to go Mizoram. They have many times complained against the dominant Mizos for refusing to accept their culture in the state.

The Brus alleged that Christian Mizos regard them as “foreigners”. Brus are largely followers of Hinduism and Animism. There were also reports that the Hindu Brus in Mizoram were sidelined by the majority Christian Mizos and were even forced to convert to Christianity.

These allegations of Brus can’t be dismissed easily. In 2018, during the Mizoram assembly polls, the majority Mizos rallied against the then Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) SB Sashank for giving his consent to the request of the Bru refugees to vote from Tripura. This was vehemently opposed by the Mizo social bodies, who had strong backing from the Church. Even the Economic Times in its editorial had then strongly criticised it as a majoritarian demand by the Mizos that has the potential to damage the democratic institutions of India.

In this backdrop, the pact signed this year was seen as a beginning of a new phase for the Bru refugees. However, the pact brought out other old injuries. The settlement of 34,000 Brus in Tripura from the beginning has been opposed by some sections of Tripura. Particularly, in the Kanchanpur subdivision of North Tripura district, the Bengali community has been opposing the settlement of the Brus. The Brus have been living in Kanchanpur as refugees after fleeing from Mizoram. There have been tensions between Bru refugees and Bengalis in the area — which gained more momentum this year during the anti-CAA movements when some Brus allegedly attacked the local Bengalis of Kanchanpur area. A Bengali organisation of that area has been demanding a proper settlement of the Brus from the state government by looking into the interests of the Bengali community of Kanchanpur too.

Not only the local Bengalis, the Mizo community of the Jampui Hills of the Kanchanpur area too is opposing the settlement of Brus in that area. This is something not unexpected — as Brus and Mizos have been in loggerheads for more than two decades.

And now, a plan to construct a Lord Shiva temple in a hill-top hamlet called Phuldengshai located near the borders of Tripura and Mizoram has reignited the old border dispute between the two northeastern states. The hamlet is located near the Betlingchhip peak, the highest peak of Tripura, and is mostly dominated by the Mizo community. Two months back too, there were reports that the 1000 villagers enjoy benefits from both the state administrations. Both the states have been claiming the village as part of their own territory.

The initiative to build the new temple over the ruins of an old one is taken by an organisation named Songrongma, a Bruorganisation of Tripura. According to local legends, there was a Lord Shiva Temple in the early 1940s in that place. The issue has now even reached the doors of the Centre. Bru and Chakma bodies have written letters to home minister Amit Shah for his intervention to the ongoing dispute. The community leaders, as reports say, have serious allegations against the Mizoram government for destroying the Lord Shiva temple at Phuldengshai and a Buddhist temple at Kanpui of Jampui Hills. Mizoram government forcefully has taken control of the Phuldenshai village, which traditionally belongs to Tripura — as alleged by the community leaders in their letter. It is to be mentioned that Chakma tribes are followers of Buddhism.

These signs of dispute between the two states can disturb the hard achieved peace process in the north-eastern region. Religious rights of minorities in Christian Mizo dominated Mizoram have always been a concern. The fact that can’t be ignored is that the much celebrated pact of settling of Bru refugees of Mizoram in Tripura also somehow normalised the allegations of sidelining of ethnic and religious minorities in Mizoram. At the same time, the Tripura government too can’t ignore the woes of the other local communities — as this may disturb the process of settlement of Bru refugees in the state.

Notably, Tripura has a BJP government while Mizoram is ruled by Mizo National Front (MNF), a member of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) — a group of non-Congress parties of the region led by BJP. Given this, the Centre led by BJP too can play a major role to end this dispute between the two states and there should be no delay — as this dispute needs an end for the betterment of peace and development in the region.
(IPA Service)