Bru group says Tripura CM erred on community's origin, seeks corrigendum

Agartala, Oct 14 (PTI) An organisation of Tripura's Bru people on Tuesday said Chief Minister Manik Sabha "inadvertently" made a mistake about the community's origin in a recent speech, and requested him to issue a corrigendum.

The chief minister was addressing a programme in South Tripura's Bagafa on October 8 when the error was committed, the Bru People Organisation (BPO) said.

"During the event, a remark was made referring to the Bru (Reang) community as originating from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and as second settlers in Tripura'¦ (They) are in truth the aboriginal sons of the soil of Tripura," BPO President S K Msha said in a statement.

Brus are also known as Reangs.

The BPO which submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister's Office in this regard said that before the partition of India, the ancient Kingdom of Tripura was spread over regions now in Bangladesh, Mizoram, Assam and Manipur.

"Hence, while some Tiprasa people (indigenous residents of Tripura) may today reside beyond India's borders, the Bru (Reang) community has always remained firmly rooted within Indian soil, sharing in the same heritage, culture, and bloodline that define the great Kingdom of Tripura," Msha said in the statement.

The BPO firmly believes that the CM's statement was made without any deliberate intent to misrepresent. It, however, "has nevertheless caused deep emotional concern and misunderstanding among members of the Bru (Reang) community following its widespread circulation on social and digital media," the BPO chief said.

"The BPO earnestly appealed to the chief minister to issue a corrigendum clarifying the ancestral and historical identity of the Bru (Reang) community," he said.

Such a gesture would heal the wounded sentiments of the community, uphold historical truth and reinforce social harmony and unity, he said.

The chief minister is in Delhi now.

The Bru people, who had to leave their homeland Mizoram following ethnic violence in the 1990s, had been living in relief camps in the state. Over 8,000 Bru families were given permanent settlement in different parts of Tripura after an agreement was signed in New Delhi in January 2020.

Meanwhile, the ‘Amra Bangali’, a socio-political organisation of Bengalis, claimed that what the chief minister said about the origin of the Bru people is true, but Saha was targeted because he is a Bengali.

The ruling BJP has remained silent on the issue, Amra Bangali state committee secretary Gouranga Rudrapaul said in a statement.

“The statement made by the chief minister about the origin of the Bru people is historically true… He is being targeted because he belongs to the Bangli community,” Rudrapaul said.

It was true that not only Bengalis but members of tribes such as Reang, Garo, Chakma and Mog who used to reside in Chittagong in present-day Bangladesh had to enter Tripura for safety, he claimed. PTI PS NN