BRU TRIBES– GEOGRAPHY

News: For the first time, Bru refugees to have no participation in Mizoram Assembly polls

 

What's in the news?

       For the first time, Bru refugees will not participate in elections in Mizoram as they were given permanent settlement in Tripura under a Central government sponsored rehabilitation arrangement that came into effect in January 2020.

 

Key takeaways:

       The office of the CEO Mizoram earlier deleted over 14,000 Bru voters from the electoral rolls after they became permanent residents of Tripura.

Who are the Brus?

    Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram.

    Their exodus in 1997 was spurred by violent clashes in Mamith subdivision, a Reang-dominated area when they demanded the creation of an autonomous council that was vehemently opposed by Mizo groups.

    Around 34,000 people were forced to live in sub-human conditions in tents in Tripura. No solution could be reached all these years.

    These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur, in North Tripura.