In his first Mann ki Baat radio address in 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed the recent signing of the Bru-Reang agreement as one of the biggest achievements of his government in the past few months. He said insurgency in the northeastern region had come down significantly.
Mr. Modi said that in the festive atmosphere of Bihu, Pongal, Lohri and Uttarayan, many might not have noticed that Delhi witnessed an historic event in which an agreement was signed to end the Bru-Reang refugee crisis. “With it, the close-to-25-year-old Bru-Reang refugee crisis, a painful chapter, was closed for ever and ever.”
In the radio address, he spoke in detail about the crisis. The problem dated back to 1997 when the Bru community fled from Mizoram owing to ethnic tensions. They lived in camps at Kanchanpur in north Tirpura.
“For 23 years, no home, no land, no medical treatment for their families, no education facilities for their children. Just imagine, how difficult it must have been for them to live 23 long years in trying circumstances in camps. How painful it would have been to spend every moment, every day of their lives hurtling towards an uncertain future,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr. Modi blamed successive governments for ignoring the issue.
‘Ray of hope’
“Finally, the new decade of 2020 has brought a new ray of hope in the life of the Bru-Reang community.” The agreement was an example of cooperative federalism, he said, thanking the Chief Ministers of Tripura and Mizoram for helping to conclude it. He said insurgency in the northeastern region had significantly come down, citing the recent surrender in Assam of 644 militants of eight groups. Last year, he said, more than 80 insurgents returned to the mainstream in Tirpura. Tripura was the first State in the region to lift the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
Mr. Modi utilised the occasion to appeal for peace. “On the solemn occasion of the Republic Day, I would appeal to anyone in any part of the country, who’s still seeking solutions to problems through violence and weapons, to return to the mainstream,” he said.
Mr. Modi’s monthly radio address is the first of the year and the 61st edition of the programme. The timing was changed to 6 p.m. from 11 a.m. in view of the Republic Day parade.
