An agreement was signed between the Union Government, the State Government of Mizoram, the State Government of Tripura, and representatives Bru organizations in Delhi in January 2020. This is called the Quadripartite Bru Settlement Agreement.
Who are Bru Tribes?
- Bru Tribes, who are also called Reangs, are living across Mizoram, Tripura, and Assam. They are one of the 21 Scheduled Tribes in Tripura.
- They speak the Kokborok language which is of Tibeto-Burmese origin. The language is referred to as Kau Bru.
- According to the 2011 census, there were 1, 88,220 Reang in Tripura.
Key Points of Quadripartite Agreement
- The agreement signing ceremony was presided by Home Minister Amit Shah between Tripura, Mizoram, and refugee leaders.
- The agreement was signed in January 2020.
- The agreement allows 35,000 Bru Tribal people to settle permanently in Tripura.
- These people were earlier displaced from Mizoram and have settled as refugees in Tripura since 1997. The ethnic violence that occurred in Mizoram in 1997 had led to the displacement of Bru families.
- The Central government has sanctioned approximately Rs600 crore as a settlement package.
- The Bru refugees will be provided with the financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh per family along with land for constructing a house.
- Before the quadripartite agreement, a different agreement was signed in 2018 but many people did not want to go back to Mizoram and only 328 families went back.
Bru demand immediate implementation of agreement
Mizoram Bru Refugees have demanded the immediate implementation of the Quadripartite Bru Settlement Agreement for the permanent rehabilitation in Tripura. The implementation has already been delayed due to COVID-19.