With the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Mizoramgovernment and the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) on April 26, the curtainhas dropped on an eight-year-old insurgency. More importantly, the INR 286.5million financial package that comes along with the MoU, paves the way for therepatriation of nearly 40,000 Bru (also known as Reang) refugees who had madesix relief camps in the North Tripura District their homes since their flightfrom Mizoram in October 1997.
The fear of retribution following the killing of a Mizo forest guard bysuspected Bru miscreants had started the massive exodus of Bru tribals, thesecond largest tribe in the state, from the hamlets of Western Mizoram throughthe Jampui Hills, and into the neighbouring North Tripura District. Since 1997,they have been settled in six relief camps in the Kanchanpur sub-division. Thetotal number of refugees has been a matter of contention.
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While the Mizoram government insisted that only about 10,000 were originallyfrom Mizoram, the number of refugees in the camps had reached about 30,000 by2001. Reports now suggest that the number could be close to 40,000. For long,the negotiations had foundered against the fact that the Mizoram government waswilling to take back only the 'original inhabitants' of the state, whereas therefugees insisted that all the inhabitants of the relief camps needed to berepatriated.
The BNLF's potential for violence - rooted in the relief camps and linked to thecause of the refugees - has never been sufficient to be a cause forextraordinary concern for Mizoram. Since its inception in October 1996, the highpoint of BNLF's militant activity remained the June 30, 2000, ambush in whichseven members of the anti-terrorist Hunter Force of the Mizoram Police werekilled and four others injured along the India-Bangladesh border in Mizoram'sMamit District. Since then, the outfit has been involved in odd acts ofabduction for ransom, mostly in the Cachar District of Assam and the borderingareas of Mizoram.
The BNLF appeared to have started big and had even established a camp in theChittagong Hill Tract (CHT) region of Bangladesh, but the group's attempts atforging ties with other organisations, such as the National Liberation Front ofTripura (NLFT), died an early death. Following the signing of a 'Memorandum ofUnderstanding' between these two groups, the relations between the ChristianNLFT and the pro-Hindu BNLF quickly soured. On July 9, 2000, nearly 70 cadres ofthe BNLF were gunned down by NLFT militants in one of the latter's camps inBangladesh. The BNLF chief Surajmani Reang and his deputy were taken hostage,and it took a while before they found an opportunity to flee the NLFT camp. TheBNLF could never recover from this loss.
What dogged the three-and-a-half year old negotiation process, which commencedon September 7, 2001, was the BNLF's insistence on the creation of an autonomousstructure of self-governance in areas where the Brus were to return. From anautonomous district council (ADC), the BNLF scaled down its demand to a regionalcouncil. However, the Mizoram government maintained a principled stand, andrefused to concede to the militants' demands. The Government's patience appearedto have paid off when, on November 28, 2004, Chief Minister Zoramthanga claimedthat the protracted peace talks with the BNLF had reached a "decisivestage", with the group giving up its demand for an autonomous council toadminister the Bru-inhabited areas of the state. He further said that the state governmentwould require at least INR 300 million to properly implement the rehabilitationpackage promised to the tribal community.
The state government also linked the repatriation of the refugees to thesurrender of arms by BNLF cadres. The first clause of the April 26 MoU achievedthat. Even though the MoU does not fix a timeframe, the entire 150-odd BNLFcadres are expected to lay down arms within two months and would then berehabilitated in the Tuipuibari village of Western Mizoram. According toreports, a sum of Rupees 23 million has been set aside for the rehabilitation ofthe militants, a fairly generous settlement for a group that has very limitednuisance value.
The success of the negotiation process was directly linked to the growingfrustration among Bru refugees. Unlike other militant groups in the Northeastwhich have, over the years, severed their ties with their originalconstituencies and the causes that they represented, BNLF's existence andrelevance remained intrinsically linked to the issue of repatriation of the Brurefugees and a financial package for them. Of late, the groups had been facingdifficulties in keeping its flocks together, with an emerging challenge of theorigin of other militant groups such as the Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram (BLFM)with an analogous agenda. It consequently became necessary to 'seal the deal'even on a partial fulfilment of their demands.
The MoU, initially to be signed in the first week of April, had run intoobjections from an influential state students' organisation, the Mizo ZirlaiPawl (MZP). The government had to defer the 13th round of dialogue amidstprotests from the MZP, which demanded an apology from the BNLF before theeventual repatriation of refugees. The MZP also suspected the BNLF's role in thekidnapping of a student, which the militant group denied. The issue was,however, set to rest with the public apology tendered by Surajmani Reang onApril 26, in which he declared: "On behalf of the BNLF, I would like to askfor forgiveness of the Mizo and Bru people today for any wrongs that may havebeen perpetrated against them by the BNLF."
The signing of the MoU will be a matter of personal satisfaction for ChiefMinister Zoramthanga. His critics at home and outside had questioned hiscapacity to act as a peace broker with other Northeastern militant groups -Zoramthanga, himself an ex-militant, has been seeking a mediatory role inconflicts in Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya - when he had failed to solve theBru issue in his own home state. Though the new United Progressive Alliance (UPA)government in New Delhi does not attach much significance to his endeavours,given his previous political leanings, Zoramthanga has reason to be relieved atthe settlement of this long-standing dispute in his state.
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Bibhu Prasad Routray is Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management.Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia TerrorismPortal
