Young Mizo Association (YMA), the powerful youth organisation in Mizoram has asked Bru voters living in the relief camps of Tripura to return to their homeland and cast their ballots in their respective constituencies, but the Brus are unwilling to do so.

YMA president Vanlalruata said that the Brus should be treated like ordinary voters, and no special arrangements should be made for them this time to exercise franchise at a chosen place.

Nearly 12,000 Bru refugees lodged in six relief camps of Tripura travelled to Kahnmun in Mamit district of Mizoram to cast their vote for November 28 assembly polls last year.

A Bru lady shows her marked finger after casting vote at Kanhmun.

"No one is stopping the Brus from coming to Mizoram, no one is harassing them. Let them come and vote in their respective places of origin, not one special place. It’s not about distance – if a Mizo stays in Delhi, he will be travelling to his home state to exercise the franchise. The Bru community should be treated the same like ordinary voters,” said Pu Ruata who believes that repatriation of Bru refugees has been a failed exercise.

On the other hand, Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Forum (MBDPF), a committee of Bru refugees has decided to write to the Election Commission of India (ECI) through the ministry of home affairs to let them vote at a special polling booth arranged within the relief camps of Tripura.

Speaking to News 18, MBPDF secretary Bruno Msha said that they were not satisfied with the arrangements made at Kahnmun last time.

“We may not be able to go to our villages. If the resolution adopted by the NGOs is accepted by ECI, we have no problem, but Mizoram will see a low voter turnout from the Bru community. We had faced a lot of problems at Kahnmun – food, transport and logistics. Many of the buses broke down. We have cast our vote in relief camps in the past, and we would request the EC to let us vote here itself," Msha said.

Brus turned up in large number at Kanhmun village along Mizoram-Tripura border to cast their vote in assembly polls last year.

Meanwhile, a total of 15 temporary polling stations have been set up exclusively for Bru voters in Kahnmun village along the Mizoram-Tripura border - 9 for Mamit district and 3 each for Kolasib and Lunglei districts. A total of 5,955 Bru electors living in transit camps will be voting in Mamit, while a total of 11,941 Brus would be casting their votes in Kolasib and Lunglei districts.

After at least eight failed attempts of repatriation, the Bru refugees are now waiting for the Mizo National Front (MNF) government led by Zoramthanga to initiate fresh talks and address their long-standing demands. Over 32,000 Bru people have been living in six temporary camps in North Tripura district since 1997 after they were forced to flee ethnic violence in Mizoram. The Bru Hindus constitute 60 percent of the population of refugees in Tripura.