Days after his comments on the origins of the Bru community, the Bru People Organisation (BPO) has sought clarification from Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha over his remarks, and said it would “heal the wounded sentiments of the community, uphold historical truth, and reinforce social harmony and unity”.
In a press communique on October 14, the BPO said Saha’s comments at the 33rd state-level Hojagiri Festival at Bokafa in South Tripura district on October 8, where he said that people of the Reang or Bru community originated from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, and are second settlers in Tripura, had hurt them.
The BPO is a social organisation formed in 2021, around the time when the process to permanently settle nearly 40,000 Bru migrants who fled the ethnic crisis in Mizoram in 1997, started in Tripura.
“The Bru People Organisation earnestly appealed to the Hon’ble Chief Minister to issue a corrigendum clarifying the ancestral and historical identity of the Bru ( Riang) community. Such a gesture would heal the wounded sentiments of the community, uphold historical truth, reinforce social harmony and unity, and stand as a shining example of the Hon’ble Chief Minister’s statesmanship, compassion and commitment to the inclusive spirit of Tripura,” the press communique served by the BPO read.
‘Aboriginal sons of the soil’
Speaking to indianexpress.com, BPO leader Bruno Msha said Thursday that while the CM’s claims were “historically not incorrect”, people of the community have lived in Tripura and India even before Bangladesh existed or the Partition of 1947 occurred. Therefore, Msha said, the idea that Brus originated from CHT, though not geographically incorrect, has hurt some people due to the perception of alienation from the national identity.
Msha added that some people might try to take undue advantage by twisting the CM’s words and turning it into a political issue. He said the erstwhile Bru migrants, who are now permanently settled in Tripura, didn’t want to let the state government be maligned, especially after all the good work they have been doing for the community.
BPO president S K Msha and information secretary Simson Reang said that, though they believe the statement was made without any deliberate intention to misrepresent, it caused “deep emotional concern and misunderstanding” among Bru community members.
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In a letter written to CM Saha the same day, they stated, ” …We are confident that your remark was not made with any deliberate intention to portray the Reang ( Bru) community as outsiders. Nevertheless, as the statement has been widely circulated across various social and digital media platforms, it has inadvertently caused deep concern and emotional distress among members of the Bru ( Riang) community”.
“With the utmost reverence and with no intent to contradict, we wish to submit that the statement, though perhaps made inadvertently, has unfortunately sown a seed of misunderstanding among the people. At a time when the Government of India has been taking commendable steps to identify and deport illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, such a perception, if left unclarified, may inadvertently cast a shadow of doubt upon the age-old identity, loyalty and belongingness of the Bru ( Riang) people who are, in truth, the aboriginal sons of the soil of Tripura”.
The BPO added that the Bru (Reang) people were loyal citizens and valiant warriors of the ancient Tripura kingdom, as recorded in Rajmala, a chronicle of Tripura’s royal history, thereby granting them legitimacy well beyond the Partition, let alone Bangladesh.
They stated that two generals from Reang community, Rai Kchak and Rai Kasom, during the reign of the King Dhanya Manikya (1490-1515 AD), protected the Tripura kingdom against the invasions of Husain Shah of Bengal and their bravery and patriotism were immortalised in the history when they captured a cannon from the enemy that was later installed at Kaman Chowmuhani in Agartala as symbol of their courage and loyalty.
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Before the Partition, the Tripura kingdom extended far beyond its present boundaries into regions that now form parts of modern-day Bangladesh, Mizoram, Assam and Manipur, the BPO said.
Though some people of the Tripuri tribes may live outside India today, the Bru community has always remained deeply rooted within Indian soil, sharing the same heritage, culture and bloodline that define the great Kingdom of Tripura, they stated in the release.
BJP backs Manik Saha
Amidst the raging controversy, Saha met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday in New Delhi, and sought his support on key issues, including the inclusion of the Bru-Reang community under the NFSA Scheme and increasing the allocation of wheat under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party defended Saha, and trained guns on the Tipra Motha party, saying the BJP has been implementing a series of developmental projects for the state’s indigenous tribal communities, and criticised “undemocratic remarks” against the CM.
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Tripura BJP Vice-President Bimal Chakma, General Secretary Bipin Debbarma, and BJP Yuva Morcha tribal leader Sanjit Reang recently accused leaders of the Tipra Motha party of distorting Tripura’s history to gain poll mileage ahead of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections expected to be held early next year.
They said that ever since the saffron party came to power in the state, the erstwhile Agartala Airport was rechristened after the last reigning king of Tripura, Maharaj Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur. His birth anniversary, August 29, was also declared a government holiday, they pointed out.
The BJP’s tribal leaders also cited examples of President Droupadi Murmu, former Tripura deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma, a veteran tribal leader now serving as the Governor of Telangana, and several BJP chief ministers from tribal communities serving in different states across the country.
They added that the Tripura Government recently hired samajpatis or tribal ethnic community leaders to recognise their contributions, and permanently settled the Bru migrants from Mizoram in Tripura, ending over two decades of life in refugee camps.
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As many as 37,000 Bru migrants fled ethnic clashes in Mizoram in 1997, and were sheltered in six relief camps in North Tripura district. Nearly 5,000 returned in nine phases of repatriation, but almost the same number fled in renewed clashes in 2009 and came to Tripura.
Twenty-three years after this protracted displacement, which had become the largest internal displacement in the Northeast so far. An agreement was signed on January 16, 2020, to resettle them with a fund of Rs 600 crore permanently.
The pact came two years after another agreement in June 2018 that sought to repatriate them to Mizoram, which the migrants rejected, saying they were not “properly consulted” about it.
As a part of the Rs 600-crore package announced to resettle them, the Bru migrants have been given free ration, and each family has been handed over Rs 5,000 per month for two years. A one-time financial support of Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 4 lakh for constructing permanent houses has also been provided to the families.
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While almost all the Bru migrants have already been resettled in their new homes, some of them held a few protests, including one in Dhalai district last year when a large number of Bru migrants blockaded the National Highway at Haduklau in Ambassa. They demanded the creation of new village committees and the allocation of agricultural lands at the 13 Bru resettlement locations.
