Updated: November 21, 2020 10:04:10 pm
A burning vehicle during a protest by the Joint Movement Committee (JMC) against the resettlement of displaced Bru migrants in the Kanchanpur subdivision, in Panisagar in the North Tripura district (PTI photo)
One person died and at least 20 were injured on Saturday when Tripura police loaded up with lathi and opened fire on people who were on indefinite strike against the state government formula to resettle Bru migrants of Mizoram. Protesters have been blocking the National Highway in Panisagar in northern Tripura.
According to police, protesters turned violent this morning, forcing police to resort to lathi-charge and opening fire that left Srikanta Das, a 40-year-old carpenter, who had joined the protests, dead in the act.
More than 32,000 Brus, who fled the Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts of the contiguous Mizoram districts in 1997, are being resettled in Tripura as part of a four-way agreement between the Tripura state governments, Mizoram, the central government and Bru migrants. Twenty-three years after their displacement and nine phases of repatriation, the Center has declared a package of Rs 600 crore to resettle these migrants in groups in the state in January this year.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, the additional director general of the police, Rajiv Singh, said that the police were forced to shoot in self-defense. “The crowd had blocked the national highway without permission. We tried to dissuade them and after they got violent we tried a light load of lathi and blank shots. The crowd became rebellious and tried to snatch weapons. The police fired in self-defense, ”said the official.
The bodies of Bru, Chakma of Tripura write to Amit Shah: ‘Close the Tripura-Mizoram border crossing until the border dispute is resolved’
Singh admitted that one person was killed in police shooting and some others were injured, but added that at least nine members of Tripura police and firefighters were injured after protesters attacked them. While most of them are hospitalized in Panisagar and Dharmanagar, two were rushed to GBP hospital in Agartala for treatment.
North of Tripura: Police try to arrest members of the Joint Movement Committee (JMC) who were holding a protest against the resettlement of displaced Bru migrants (PTI)
However, the Joint Movement Committee, which has called for agitation, has claimed that the police fired at the protesters even when they were agitating peacefully. “Our protesters were peaceful. The police opened fire on them without provocation. One person was killed instantly and many others were seriously injured. The details are still not clear to us, ”Sushanta Baruah, JMC coordinator, told reporters tonight.
He also claimed that the Social Welfare Minister Santana Chakma and the local MLA Bhagaban Das met with the protesters and assured them in writing that their demands would be met soon.
The head of the Mizo Convention and leader of the JMC, Dr. Z Pachuau, said that protesters were attacked by indigenous Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawan rifles without provocation, prompting retaliation by protesters, leading to resulted in injuries to several protesters.
Pachuau claimed that a TSR agent was killed during “retaliation” by the rioters after the police shot.
Local administration officials said on condition of anonymity that a large contingent of jawans from the Tripura Police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) were deployed to the area after the incident and the situation is under control until the latest reports arrive.
The incident occurs as a result of support of the opposition CPIM in favor of the demands presented by the Joint Committee of the Movement, where the party said that migrants should be resettled on khash or government lands, reserved forest areas or lands free of forest cover and that their livelihood should be guaranteed without disturbing the interests of permanent local residents. The party has also urged the state government to initiate a dialogue with the protesters to reach a friendly solution to the crisis.
However, the ruling BJP-IPFT government has welcomed the decision to resettle Brus in Tripura permanently and said that people who violate section 144 imposed in Kanchanpur since Tuesday will not be tolerated.
.
