Bru-Reang leaders have met Tripura deputy chief minister Jishnu Devbarma demanding immediate arrest of miscreants, who had killed fireman Biswajit Debbarma in Tripuras Panisagar sub-division. Bru-Reang leaders had met the deputy CM along with state tribal welfare minister, Mevar Kumar Jamatia on Monday to discuss the resettlement of Bru refugees in the state. Royal scion Pradyot Kishore Deb Barman, who acted as the mediator said that the Bru leaders demanded that the state government fulfill its promise regarding the resettlement of the Bru-Reang refugees. “The authorities concerned should take action against agitators who take the law into their hands,” said Deb Barman. The government never said that all refugees will be resettled in Kanchanpur and people with vested interests were spreading rumours to create unrest in the area, he said. The ministers assured the Bru leaders of beginning the resettlement process and sending the names of all Bru families to the Union government within a month. However, the Bru leaders remained silent on the death of Srikanta Das, a member of the Joint Movement Committee, who had been killed on November 21 during firing by Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans in Kanchanpur sub-division recently. Also read: Tripura State Rifles jawans open fire on anti-Bru protestors, one killed in Kanchanpur TSR jawans had opened fire to prevent agitators from blocking the national highway in the sub-division. Debbarma was also killed by miscreants during similar agitations in Panisagar on the same day. A large number of protestors led by the JMC had been agitating against the resettlement of 500 Bru-Reang families in the sub-division as they believed that the resettlement process will harm the ecology of the region. The JMC, a platform of local Bengalis and Mizos, had called for a strike in the sub-division from November16-24. The Brus had fled the state from neighbouring Mizoram in 1997 after being persecuted in an ethnic clash. The centre, during a multi-party meeting held in New Delhi in January this year, directed the Tripura government to resettle these refugees in the state. The centre also announced a package of rupees 600 crores for their resettlement. JMC chairman, Zairemthiama Pachuau said, “The JMC fully supports the peaceful and permanent settlement of Mizorams internally displaced people in all districts of Tripura without compromising the interests of locals or harming the ecology of Jampui Hills and Kanchanpur subdivision.”

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