Pradyot writes to MHA, demands rehabilitation of Brus  in Tripura

Agartala: Tripura’s royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Deb Burman has appealed Union home minister Amit Shah for resettlement of the Brus in Tripura itself.

Speaking with EastMojo, the former state president of Congress said that he demanded the rehabilitation package, meant for Bru community in Mizoram, to be shifted to Tripura.

“In this letter, I have stated that Tripura, which even gave refuge to Shah Shuja who was escaping his brother Aurangzeb’s wrath and lakhs of discriminated Hindus from East Pakistan and Bangladesh pre- and post-partition, has to give an option for our Bru/Reang people a chance to stay in the state along with proper land and educational and health facilities. I have done what I had promised and I will continue to support my call for unity,” Deb Barman said.

Deb Barman, the former president of Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), has written a letter to Shah on November 16 and expressed his concern and anguish over the suspension of ration supply to the Brus living in six relief camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-division of North Tripura district since 1997 and mentioned that in accordance to the Rajamala, the Bru community stands with the historical ties to the royal house of Tripura.

“I would like to mention here that my grandmother Rajmata Kanchanprabha Devi gave her name to Kanchanpur which is the town where persecuted Hindu Bengalis were hitherto settled. She is famous in the annals of Tripura as the Queen who gave refuge to displaced Hindu refugees from East Pakistan. It would be highly ironical and insensitive if our own indigenous people, who are residing in camp in Kanchanpur, are now forced to leave the state because of the sordid political machinations of certain parties,” he wrote.

He also said the Bru tribals actually belonged to Tripura earlier and the first wave of displacement commenced when the now-defunct Dumbur Hydro Power Project in Gomati district was being initiated in the mid-1970s in the state, under the aegis of the union government/state government. They were forced further to the east and west inter-alia into the states of Mizoram and Assam.

Also Read: Brus call off stir, Tripura govt assures ration supply till Nov 30

Deb Barman also pointed out that under Principle 18, these people are guaranteed a supply of potable water and food. Furthermore, under Principle 28, they are also guaranteed the right to settle in whichever part of the country that they choose to settle.

He also wrote that according to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement published by the United Nations, which are deemed to be consistent with the various conventions and International Treaties like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that India is part to our country has certain obligations towards the indigenous Bru /Reang people.

“I would like your office to consider repatriating the Bru/Reang community within Tripura itself which is what the people themselves are desirous of. I also would appeal that their resettlement should be in clusters along with proper medical and educational facilities. Furthermore, the package offered by the Centre for resettlement of the communities in Mizoram to be redirected towards their settlement in Tripura itself,” Deb Burman wrote in his letter to Shah.