The Hindu : National : Bru refugees to post their votes in Mizoram

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Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008
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Bru refugees to post their votes in Mizoram

Sushanta Talukdar

Election personnel leave for Tripura under heavy security

EC declares refugees a notified class of voters eligible for postal ballots
We will cast votes to assert political rights, says leader of the displaced

Aizawl: Altogether 8,061 Bru (also known as Reangs) refugees from among the 35,000 displaced people belonging to the community, sheltered in camps in Tripura and in Mizoram, can vote in the December 2 Mizoram Assembly polls through postal ballots.

Leaders of the refugees said the polls would be an opportunity for the displaced families to assert their political rights as citizens of Mizoram.

Three candidates of the community are contesting in Dampa, Mamit and Hachhek in Mamit district.

Joint Chief Electoral Officer Lalhmingthanga told The Hindu on Monday that the Election Commission had declared those taking shelter in eight refugees camps — six in Tripura and two in Mizroam — a “notified class of voters eligible for postal ballots.”

EC observers

A team of 70 personnel with postal ballots left for Tripura under heavy security. Seven EC observers were also going to the camps.

Bru refugee voters are spread over 10 of the total 40 constituencies of Mizoram.

The Bru refugees have been taking shelter in camps in Tripura for the past 11 years after they were displaced in ethnic clashes with Mizos in October 1997.

The Reangs have been notified as one of the primitive tribes of India.

Decision hailed

Welcoming the EC decision, Elvis Chorkhy, president, Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBPDF), told The Hindu: “We will cast our votes to assert our political rights. This will also give us an opportunity to assert that Brus are an integral part of Mizroam and are citizens of Mizoram.”

Speaking over telephone from the MBPDF head office at the Naisingpara camp, Mr. Chorkhy said leaders of all political parties visited the refugee camps in Tripura and Mizroam for electioneering.

He said the displaced Brus had been languishing in the camps without proper food, sanitation, livelihood and educational facilities.

Rehabilitation

“Thousands of children have grown up without proper nourishment and education. It is high time all the displaced families were rehabilitated.”

Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers and senior Congress leader B.K. Handique campaigned for the party candidates in all the refugee camps in Tripura.

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