Election Commission asks the Bru Refugees of Tripura to Vote in Mizoram’s Mamit District

Guwahati: As per the latest announcement of the Election Commission (EC) of India, the Bru refugees of Tripura will be allowed to cast their vote at Kanhmun village in Mizoram’s Mamit district and enjoy their right to vote in the November 28 assembly elections.

There had been a long contention regarding the selection of the venue of voting, and later, the EC reaches at a conclusion that the Brus will vote in Mamit as the district has the highest number of registered Bru voters.

The voting rights of the Bru refugees in the upcoming Assembly Elections had been under the mist of doubts as the tribal leaders were not sure how safe and secure they will be in their home state. But, assuring them of total safety and security while they cast their votes, the EC decided to bring 11,232 Brus to Mizoram for voting.

As stated by an official of the CEO office, "We have been informed by the Election Commission that the polling for the Brus must be arranged at Kanhmun village inside Mizoram territory. We have started our preparations for that."

The reason behind choosing Kanhmun village as the most suitable venue for the Bru voters to cast their votes in Mizoram is that the village is located in the border between Mizoram and Tripura.

Mizoram CEO Ashish Kundra, speaking to the media, said, "We have been informed by the Election Commission that the polling for the Brus must be arranged at Kanhmun village inside Mizoram territory. We have started our preparations for that."

Before this, Kundra had also visited the largest Bru refugee camp at Naisingpara on November 20 and intimidated the refuges about the latest decision of the EC and also informed that they have to follow the instructions of the EC.

In contrary to the instructions of the Election Commission, the leaders of the Bru refugees are saying that the Brus’ voter turnout may be zero because they have fear for their life. Rather the leaders asked the EC to review its decision and ponder over the matter.

Notably, the Bru refugees had to take shelter in six camps in Tripura due to the threat to their lives during the ethnic tension in the 1990s. since then the Bru refugees have been living in Mizoram border in Tripura.

Also read: Multimillionaires contesting Mizoram polls: Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysis