Political parties asked not to campaign in the Bru relief camps for Assembly Elections

Guwahati: Leading organisation of Bru refugees in Tripura, The Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum has appealed to political parties in Mizoram to refrain from visiting the relief camps for poll campaigns, ahead of the November 28 elections to the 40-member Assembly.

R Laldawngliana, the vice president of Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), said the community members were not keen on attending public meetings by parties from Mizoram.

"We do not welcome poll canvassing inside the camps. The members here are not looking forward to attending public meetings by the parties, just before the polls," he said.

The general secretary of the outfit, Bruno Msha, said unorganised campaigns by political parties could lead to a law-and-order situation.

He, however, clarified that if any political parties who wish to carry out campaigns in the region. have to approach the MBDPF leadership before campaigning in the region.

"If any political party wishes to hold a public rally, it should get in touch with the MBDPF leadership. We do not wish to create any law-and-order situation in the camps, where one group could be pitted against another," Msha said.

He also stressed that though flags of different political parties were on display in a number of households in the region, no campaigner from Mizoram has visited the relief camps so far

Thousands of Bru community members fled Mizoram and took shelter in Tripura following ethnic clashes in 1997. Violence broke out after a forest official was killed by Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) militants.

Though several Bru families have returned to Mizoram over the years, many refused to leave Tripura citing security reasons and inadequate package

The Centre, in association with the governments of Mizoram and Tripura, had been trying to repatriate the displaced Brus in phases.

The MBDPF had recently appealed to the Election Commission of India to establish polling stations in the relief camps for the Bru voters.

Noteworthy that recently, following the Union Home Ministry's decision to give voting rights to around 30,000 people of the Bru Community who had fled from Mizoram to Tripura in 1997 in the wake of inter-community violence, The Election Commission has asked the State of Mizoram to revise its rolls for the poll this year and include the members of the internally-displaced community. As many as 32,876 people of the Reang tribe (known in Mizoram as Brus) are set to be repatriated to Mizoram after a tripartite agreement was signed between the Centre, Tripura and Mizoram