Asian rights body demands CBI probe into Brus attacks in Mizoram
New Delhi:The Asian Centre for Human Rights today urged Home Minister P Chidambaram to order an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the killing
of one Mizo youth identified as Zarzokima on November 13 and the subsequent burning down of villages inhabited by the Brus also known as the Reangs in Mizoram since
November 14. More than 500 houses were reportedly burnt and over 5,000 Brus were
displaced and forced to seek refuge in Tripura and Assam . "As prima-facie evidence
do exist to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that the State government and
the some Mizo NGOs were behind the premeditated attacks to prevent the return
of the Brus from November 14, 2009 and all the major attacks against the minorities
took place under Chief Ministership of Pu Lalthanhawla, an inquiry by the CBI
is indispensable," stated Suhas Chakma, the Director of Asian Centre for Human
Rights. The ACHR further asserted that in Mizoram, the Congress Party leaders
have not been able to rise above their ethnicity and pursued policies against
the minorities. All the attacks against the minorities in the State i.e. on the
Buddhist Chakma tribals at Marpara in August 1992, deletion of thousands of Chakma
citizens from the voters list in Mizoram in 1995 in violation of the 1955 Citizenship
Act and 1986 Citizenship Amendment Act and the communal attacks against the Brus
in October 1997 took place under the Chief Ministership of Pu Lathanhawla. No
relief assistance, including establishment of relief camps, has been provided
to these displaced persons who took shelter in Tripura since November 14. The
ACHR also urged the Centre hold a tripartite meeting consisting of the State Government
of Mizoram, Central government and Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples Forum (MBDPF)
to workout an agreement for return of the displaced Brus with guarantees for safety,
security and proper rehabilitation and to send a clear message to the communal
forces in Mizoram; arrest all the culprits and ensure their prosecution through
speedy trial and provide assistance to the displaced.
