.

“All six voting centers have been set up in the refugee camps in north Tripura for a total of 11, 340 eligible refugee voters to cast their votes by postal ballots for the Mizoram assembly polls. Adequate security arrangements have been made with paramilitary forces from Tripura and Mizoram for a free and fair poll, says T Vemlalalmalsawmsanga, SDO, Mamit who is also an electoral officer.

The refugee leaders had earlier, during the visit of ECI Director General Ashish Srivastava, accompanied by Mizoram’s Chief Electoral Officer Ashwini Kumar and other State officials to therefugee camps; complained that there were many eligible voters in the camps who were not included in the voters’ list of Mizoram. Of the 37,625 Reang tribal refugees, locally known as ‘Bru’, living in the refugee camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar in north Tripura since 1997, only 11,340 are listed in Mizoram’s electoral rolls.

In 1997 we came here from Mizoram and had voted once. Now for the second time I have come here to cast my vote. We want what the Government provides to people like basic needs. I want to return back and get compensation, hospital care, education, security and forest land and other necessary things.”

Conducting the voting process in the refugee camp was not a very smooth process as a day ahead of the voting, the Mizo Student Union organization had blockaded roads at the Mizoram-Tripura border at Kanhmun village demanding that the voting of the Reang refugees should be held only after they return to their home State. However, the hurdles were overcome and voting could be held on the pre-scheduled date.

Right from early morning, a huge number of voters was witnessed outside the polling station and especially women and new voters in large numbers were seen waiting in long queues with voter identity cards which only proves their interest in participating in the democratic process. “I am very excited to be voting for the first time. I was born in Mizoram and grew up here in the refugee camps in Tripura. We want the new Government to take back us to our home State,” said Ranjouboti Reang.

Rabiram Reang (69) said, “In 1997 we came here from Mizoram and had voted once. Now for the second time I have come here to cast my vote. We want what the Government provides to people like basic needs. I want to return back and get compensation, hospital care, education, security and forest land and other necessary things.”

The highest number of voters is from Mamit district with 8799 voters while the lowest is from Lawnhtlai district with a single voter. But polling for the Reang displaced people of Mizoram which was to be completed in two days time had to be extended by one more day as the process could not be completed within the stipulated time as postal ballot takes more time than regular voting through EVMs. Many voters expressed that they are very happy that the Election Commission has decided to extend the voting date by one day so that every voter can exercise the right to voting.

Bruno Mesa, president of Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) said, “We really want to express our heartiest thanks to the CEO who had decided to extend the date for voting of the Bru displaced people in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-division by one more day. The process of voting was slow as voting was done through postal ballot and we hope that the voting process will be completed by tomorrow.”

But the big questing is can these votes really change the fate of the 37,625 Reang tribal refugees, locally known as ‘Bru’, living in the refugee camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar in North Tripura who fled their villages in Mizoram in October 1997 after ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos over the killing of a Mizo forest official?

These refugees had once before exercised their right to vote from the camps hoping to return home to Mizoram and even the then the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram showed his personal interest and initiative and had several rounds of dialogues with the Mizoram Government and refugee leaders in Mizoram and Tripura respectively which ultimately did not yield results. The Tripura Government, on its part, is struggling to deal with having to upkeep these refugees and has repeatedly appealed to the Union and Mizoram Government to initiate the process of repatriation.

Pinaki Das