Displaced Mizo tribe demands Central Govt's intervention to stop ethnic crisis - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), an orgaisation of the Bru tribal refugees, has demanded immediate intervention of the Central Government to resolve the problem of the displaced Bru people. The Bru refugees leaders have sought Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's intervention to solve the 12-year-old ethnic crisis in Mizoram, bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh. Over 35,000 Reang tribal refugees have been living in refugees camps in Tripura since 1997 after they fled Mizoram following ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos after the killing of a Mizo forest official. The demand comes at a time when a violent mobs set afire over 360 huts of Reang tribals in around 15 villages in Mamit and Kolashib districts in Mizoram on November 14. Following the fresh bout of attacks a number of tribals have fled to Assam and Tripura states. "Now very clear that without the active participation of the central leadership this problem cannot be solved. Especially, we request the intervention of the Union Home Minister," said Elvis Chorkhy, President, Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF). "They (Mizo) have burnt our houses and our people were badly beaten up. So I am not interested to return back. I am afraid they may attack again. If forces like Assam Rifles is given for our security only then we will return," said Kabrella, a Bru refugee. In April 2005, the Mizoram government and the militant Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) signed an agreement to solve the decade-old ethnic crisis, leading to the surrender of about 1,040 rebels belonging to BNLF and Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram (BLFM). Their demands include an autonomous council of Reang refugees that would oversee their rehabilitation, as well as official status for their tribal "Kabru" language.