Tripura’s leader of opposition, Jitendra Chaudhury, has raised concerns about the settlement process for the Bru people who were displaced from Mizoram and resettled in the state without being granted agricultural land rights. Chaudhury criticized the government for only providing each Bru family with a plot of land for housing, stating that indigenous people cannot sustain themselves without land for agriculture.
The quadripartite agreement signed in New Delhi in January 2020 allowed over 8,000 Bru families to be permanently settled in various parts of Tripura. Speaking at a program in Agartala to observe the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Chaudhury acknowledged the significance of the agreement but stressed the importance of providing land rights to the resettled Bru people.
Chaudhury highlighted a previous conflict between two ethnic tribes in Damcherra over land, where the majority Bru people were accused of destroying battle nut plantations belonging to the minority Charai sub-tribe of the Halam community. He expressed concerns that similar clashes might occur in other parts of Tripura if the government does not allocate agricultural land to the Bru people.
The leader of opposition also praised the success of the Jana Shiksha Abhiyan initiative launched by the CPI(M)’s tribal wing, Gana Mukti Parisad (GMP). He credited veteran leaders like Dasarath Dev and Hemant Debbarma for their efforts in advocating for tribal education since 1945. Chaudhury noted that the CPI(M) played a pivotal role in securing Sixth Schedule status for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) during the tenure of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
