AGARTALA, August 24 (TIWN): Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya on Sunday visited Naisinghpara and Ashapara – two major relief camps housing Reang displacement victims from Mizoram in North Tripura district. The governor said that he was sent to visit the lifestyle and problems faced by the camp inmates by the BJP led NDA governments. The issues would be soon looked into, Government Acharya said.

The displacement victims today demanded intervention from the central government to form an autonomous district council for the Bru community (BADC) following repatriation that would follow henceforth. The ADC would ensure them constitutional rights of upholding their identity and shares of sharing national benefits among members of the ethnic Reang community without depending on the Mizo leaders.

The ethnic clashes between ethnic Mizos and ethnic Reangs that erupted in 1997-1998, displacing over 37 thousand people from the Reang community in Mamit, Lunglei and Kolasib districts of Mizoram, started after people from ethnic Bru community demanded a Bru Autonomous District Council (BADC) in 1994. The conflict came as immediate reaction following the death of a Mizo forest guard at the Dampa forest reserve in November, 1997.

A group of displacement victims who attended an interaction with Governor PB Acharya said that the Government of Mizoram had denied to recognize most people who came from Mizoram after 1995 though a large number of people were forced to flee the state in repeated incidents of clashes after the timeframe. The last team of 5,000 IDPs came as late as 2009. Most children born in the transit camps weren’t extended any government birth identity certificates.

The displacement victims today requested Governor PB Acharya to facilitate central government’s intervention into the issue to ensure livelihood support to the repatriated families back in Mizoram. They sought security cover for the repatriated families for one year after the repatriation process was held. Many families had to come back to Tripura following incidents of violence following repatriation; Governments of Tripura and Mizoram didn’t take any step to regulate the situation, they said.

Governor PB Acharya today interacted with camp inmates at Naisinghpara camp for around 90 minutes from 12:30 pm. He visited Ashapara camp later on the day. Leaders of the Mizoram Bru Displacement Victims Forum (MBDPF) including Bruno Msha and Apeto Sawibunga attended the interaction on the day.