BRU community
Why in news:
- Over 14,000 of the tribe displaced from Mizoram have been registered to vote in Tripura since their rehabilitation process began in April 2021.
More about the Bru community:
- The Bru community also known as Reang community is a tribal community and is spread over at least three north-eastern states — Tripura, Mizoram and parts of southern Assam.
- The Brus are ethnically distinct from the Mizos, and the two tribes speak mutually unintelligible languages/dialects.
- In Tripura, where the Brus are the most populous tribe after the Tripuris, they are known as Reangs, and were almost 2 lakh during the 2011 Census.
- There are over 40,000 Brus living in four districts of Mizoram, while about 32,000 Brus from Mizoram currently reside in relief camps in northern Tripura.
- In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
Why they flee to Tripura:
- About half the Bru population in Mizoram fled to Tripura in 1997 following ethnic clashes with the Mizos.
- In 1997 Bru leaders had demanded an Autonomous District Council (ADC) for the tribe under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution in the western areas of Mizoram, where they were present in sizable numbers but Mizos formed the majority.
- While there were verbal duels between Mizo and Bru groups, a hitherto unknown Bru militant group, calling itself the Bru National Liberation Front, kidnapped and murdered a Mizo forest department employee in the Dampa Tiger Reserve.
- After some bitter fights Bru community huts were burnt by Mizos.
- Following this the Bru community started leaving the area.
Syllabus: Prelims
