Electoral roll revision for Brus to be conducted only after their return to Mizoram

A senior state official on Friday said that the Election Commission of India has welcomed Mizoram government's suggestion that the electoral roll revision for the Bru community would be conducted after their return to the state.

The state had advised the Commission that the revision of the electoral rolls should be taken up after the Brus, who are lodged in the six relief camps of Tripura, return to Mizoram.

Earlier, the Election Commission had instructed the state election department to undertake the voter list revision in the Bru relief camps, which was opposed by the state government, Principal Secretary of Home Department, Lalnunmawia Chuaungo said.

The Centre had called a meeting of chief ministers of Mizoram and Tripura on July 2 in which it was decided that the repatriation of all the Bru refugees in relief camps would be completed by September 30. The Centre also said that the repatriated families would receive assistance from the government to help them resettle.

Thousands of Brus are lodged in Tripura since 1997 due to communal tensions triggered by the murder of Lalzawmliana, a forest guard, by Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) militants. Some of the Bru families have returned to Mizoram, but many of them continue to refuse to leave Tripura till today despite many attempts.

(Featured Image: The Indian Express)