National

Exodus To Despair

With their dream of autonomy in tatters, Mizoram's Reangs flee to neighbouring Tripura only to languish in camps

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Exodus To Despair
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KANCHANPUR and Kokrajhar are some 1,000 km apart. But the similarities between the plight of the Reang refugees in North Tripura and Santhals in lower Assam's Kokrajhar district are striking. Hordes of bedraggled tribals, tired and undernourished, housed in makeshift camps, struggling for one square meal a day. Both communities are in a minority in their respective areas. Both have been rendered homeless because, for political reasons, the majority tribe does not want them around. Both have suffered arson and violent attacks followed by deaths because of disease and starvation. The only difference is that the Santhals, over two lakh of them, were victims of an ethnic riot against the Bodos in May 1996, while the Reangs in Mizoram have been at the receiving end of a schizophrenic violence since October 1997.

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Barely had the Tripura government got over the repatriation of 50,000 Chakmas back to Bangladesh when a fresh crisis was on its hand. This time, it was Reang tribals from neighbouring Mizoram arriving in large numbers, alleging persecution at the hands of the majority Mizos. Nearly 27,000 of them are currently housed in North Tripura, living in unhygienic conditions, facing starvation.

By itself, the plight of the Reang refugees would not have attracted much attention but for the fact that the RSS got into the act and accused, in its annual report for 1997-98, the Christian missionaries of abetting a "terrible spree of looting, burning, killing and raping" of Reang tribals in Mizoram because "they resisted conversion to Christianity". The RSS annual report, which was presented to its Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha in Chennai in mid-March, served to re-focus the attention on the Reang refugees who had first fled Mizoram in October 1997 and have been steadily pouring into Tripura and adjoining areas of Assam. For their part, the missionaries say they do not need to convert anyone since Mizoram is as it is inhabited by over 90 per cent Christians.

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The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. As Upendra Reang, the only postgraduate degree holder among the Reangs, says: "The reports about forcible conversions of Reangs to Christianity are exaggerated. That is not the primary reason, since nearly 50 per cent of us are already Christians. The root cause of the trouble lies in our demand for an autonomous council within Mizoram."

The tension between the over six lakh-strong Mizos and barely 80,000-odd Reangs mainly arises out of a political demand. The Mizos, who do not want to see the repetition of the way the Chakmas were granted autonomy, were angered by an attempt by the Reangs (who call themselves Bru) to unite politically and ask for an autonomous council. Says M.S. John, information and publicity secretary of the Mizoram Reang Refugee Committee (MRRC): "Towards the end of September 1997, we had assembled at Saipuilui village to discuss our autonomy demand when a band of Mizo youths under the banner of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) and aided by several personnel of the Mizoram Armed Police (MAP) attacked the meeting. They charged us with trying to divide Mizoram. After that day, the looting, killing and raping spree began. We had no alternative but to flee for our lives."

 The JAC, which comprises the Young Mizo Association and the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP or Mizo Students Federation), warned the Reangs of dire consequences. An MZP statement added to the fire: "If you want to divide or disintegrate Mizoram further, it is better that you all go away. If some people cannot adjust themselves under the administration of Mizoram, they can go back to their own states. We have given this land to Christ but we will not budge to the Chakmas and the Reangs."

 In the midst of the rising tension, a Mizo forester Lal Zawmliana was shot dead on October 21, allegedly by a fledgling militant group, the Bru National Liberation Front. The killing invited retaliation by the Mizos who then burnt down about 70 Reang villages, triggering the exodus of the Reangs out of Mizoram. Initially, about 3,000 people fled to Assam's Hailakandi district. Then as the killings increased, the trickle became a flood. Today, says Upendra Reang, there are about 51,000 Reangs staying in different camps spread across Assam, Tripura and even Myanmar and Bangladesh. And the exodus continues. As recently as April 24, 226 Reangs from Mizoram's Lunglei district arrived at the Kanchanpur camp after trekking through the jungles for a week.

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The living conditions in the camps are miserable. With the Tripura government able to provide only 400 grams of rice per person per day and some polythene sheets, survival is a tough battle. Says Lalthanhawla, the youthful secretary of the MRRC overseeing relief to the refugees: "Most of our people are living on jungle roots which is not good for the liver in the long run. There is no provision for drinking water and sanitation is non-existent." Already about 324 people, mostly children, have died of various diseases.

IN Kokrajhar, the Santhals face a similar situation. According to Nagen Ram Kahar, president of the Joypur camp near Kokrajhar: "Most of our people are starving and are barely surviving on jungle roots because the government has not been able to supply ration for the last couple of months."

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More than food however, Kahar is worried about a fresh outbreak of trouble between his community and the Bodos. In May 1996, the clashes took a toll of over 150 lives. "This time, our youths may not be in a mood to take any attack lying down," he warns. Tension has far from subsided in the area, as is evident from the killing of four Bodos on April 27. The Assam government is keeping a close tab on the situation which has a potential to turn into a bigger disaster.

Meanwhile, the charge by the RSS that the Reangs in Mizoram have been persecuted by the Mizos because they refused to convert to Christianity is seen by the Mizoram government as an attempt by the BJP to make political inroads in the region. Says Mizoram chief minister Lalthanhawla: "The charges by the RSS-BJP are politically motivated. They are eyeing the North-east for further political gains and hence the urge to fish in troubled waters."

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The Baptist Mission Church authorities in Mizoram also deny instigating the Mizos against Reangs. "Christianity does not preach hatred," says a priest. "In any case, many of the Reangs are Christians, so why should we create trouble?"

The RSS does not agree. Says Prashant Bhide, a volunteer of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, a frontal organisation of the RSS working in Reang refugee camps in Tripura: "We do not discriminate while distributing aid but when Christian missionaries come to these camps, they choose to give aid only to their own people." The RSS Akhil Bha-ratiya Prachar Pramukh Srikant Joshi has in fact asked Lalthanhawla to interrogate Christian missionaries who, he says, are responsible for "separatist teachings" and the persecution of non-Christian Reangs.

The religious factor may not seem important enough at the moment but as time goes by and the Reangs continue to languish in camps, it could become an explosive issue.

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