AGARTALA: The leader of the opposition in Tripura, Jitendra Chaudhury, has raised serious concerns over the resettlement process of the Bru people displaced from Mizoram, alleging that the state government has failed to provide them with crucial agricultural land rights.
Addressing a gathering in Agartala on Friday to observe the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the CPI(M) stalwart lauded the quadripartite agreement that facilitated the permanent settlement of over 8,000 Bru families in Tripura. However, he was quick to point out the glaring omission in the rehabilitation plan. “Each family has been given a plot of land for their house, but indigenous people cannot sustain themselves without land for agriculture. This will have a disastrous impact in the long run,” Chaudhury warned.
Recalling a land-related clash between two ethnic tribes in Damcherra two years ago, Chaudhury expressed his apprehension that similar conflicts could erupt in other parts of the state, including Gandacherra, Ambassa, and Santirbazar. He claimed that a majority of the Bru people, also known as Reangs, had “destroyed” the betel nut plantations of the minority Charai community. The opposition leader suggested that the government should have allocated land from the state’s 60 per cent reserved forest area to the Bru families. Chaudhury, who is also a veteran CPI(M) leader, used the occasion to highlight the historical contributions of his party to the welfare of the indigenous people. He spoke about the success of the ‘Jana Shiksha Abhiyan’ launched by the CPI(M)’s tribal wing, Gana Mukti Parisad (GMP), and credited veteran leaders like Dasarath Dev and Hemant Debbarma for their relentless fight for tribal education since 1945. He also credited the CPI(M)’s successful movement for the grant of Sixth Schedule status to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
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