The head count exercise was undertaken as per the instruction of the Mizoram Government, which is regarded as the first step in the effort to repatriate all Bru refugees this year following instructions of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram that it be completed by October end.

Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF), which undertook the exercise said the relief camps were located at Kanchanpur sub-division in North Tripura district and the refugees were classified into two groups – those who migrated en masse in 1997 and those in 2009.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who visited Aizawl on May 25 asked the Bru leaders to ensure that all refugees were repatriated to Mizoram and said he would visit Mizoram again to oversee the repatriation process.

Our Correspondent adds: The MBDPF, apex body of the Reang refugees, has sought investigation at appropriate level over the distribution of inflammatory leaflets involving its leaders.

In a letter addressed to Superintendent of Police (SP), North Tripura district on Tuesday, A Sawinbunga, general secretary of MBDPF informed that some leaflets containing malicious campaign against the MBDPF were found in several places in Kanchanpur subdivision recently.

The leaflets written in local dialect read that Elvish Chorkhy, R Laldawngliana and A Sawibunga – all MBDPF leaders – are heading the Bru National Army, an outfit and they are working for the community to target Mizo people in near future.

The distribution of such leaflets has triggered tension among Bru and Mizo communities in Kanchanpur subdivision.

A team of MBDPF has already met Officer in Charge (OC), Kanchanpur subdivision and handed over some leaflets to him. A letter has been sent to the SP urging him to conduct a probe into the matter and nab the people responsible for the cowardly act.

In the letter, it also mentioned that the move is aimed to destabilise the existing mutual understanding between Mizos and Reangs (Bru) in the subdivision where more than 30,000 refugees are sheltered due to ethnic strife in neighbouring Mizoram.

Addressing a meeting of major NGOs and voluntary organisations here, Lalzirliana said that
“with too many people who refused to work hard and tried to earn a living by extorting money from businessmen including non-tribals, the peaceful atmosphere in the state has been in peril.”

Expressing great concern over the increasing extortion in the state, he said, “the rampant extortion by and in the name of NGOs not only threatened peace, but also brought a bad name to our society and religion.”

The home minister told the NGO leaders that such people might call it ‘donation’ but it is sheer extortion and is an offence as per the law.

“It is an offence, a crime, so the government cannot be a mute spectator,” he said that the law would be enforced by the government against the offenders, however, powerful they might be.

The meting was attended by Parliamentary Secretary for Home Lalrinmawia Ralte, Home Secretary Lalmalsawma and leaders of the Young Mizo Association (YMA), Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) or Mizo Women federation, Mizoram Upa Pawl (MUP) of Mizoram Elders association, Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) or Mizo Students association and the Mizoram Educated Welfare Association (MEWA).

Work on the Rs 359crore hydel project to produce electricity by harnessing the Tuirial river came to a grinding halt in 2003 in the wake of a controversy over payment of compensation “at inflated rates” for acquisition of land for the project.

Mizoram chief minister Lalthanhawla said the project was cleared by the Centre after he had taken up the matter with leaders in New Delhi, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week.

The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (Neepco) has been saddled with the responsibility to install the hydel plant with a revised outlay fixed at Rs 913 crore.

Though Neepco has decided to mobilize bulk of the resources for the Tuirial project by borrowing funds from banks and financial bodies, sub-marginal loans from the Centre and selling equities, officials of the company are still uncertain whether it would be able to meet the outlay.

A senior official of Neepco at its headquarters in Shillong last night said over phone that there would still be an unbridged gap between the envisaged outlay for the hydel project and funds to be mopped up from different sources.

The official said the project should be completed within three years provided the requisite funds are arranged.

The power tariff in the first year after commissioning of this much-vaunted project has been fixed at Rs 3.70 per unit.

The official, who did not wish to be named, said Neepco, which is almost certain that it would face a funds crunch for the project, would place its demand before the DoNER ministry and the Centre to bridge the gap between outlay and funds.

A senior official in the finance department of the Mizoram government pointed out that the funds from the DoNER ministry for the Tuirial project would be an additional grant besides the routine cash inflow for development projects in the hill state.

He said the government of Mizoram would get 12 per cent of the power generated from the hydel project free of cost.

Mizoram, at present, is a power-deficit state where the demand for power is 120MW while supply from various sources, including the state power department, is approximately 60MW.

The project envisages the construction of a 77-metre-high earthen dam across Tuirial, a tributary of the Barak.

A surface power station on the left bank of the river at the toe of this dam would be constructed at Bilkhawtlir for generation of 60MW of power at 45 per cent load factor.

The dread stems from Chapter 13 Verse 17 of the Book of Revelations in the Bible which says “… and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or the name of the Beast or the number of his name.”

The problem has stemmed from the Unique Identification Authority of India stipulating that none could buy or sell property without the Unique ID card.

According to adherents of the belief, since buying or selling of property made one a follower of the Beast, one having the UID card, which authorized property transactions, automatically made one a follower of the Devil.

Those refusing to be enumerated belong to the Mizoram Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church of Mizoram.

Champhai District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said when he summoned Lalzawna the leader and high priest of a sect he was told that his religious belief would not permit him to register his name and he was ready to face any punishment.

Serchhip Deputy Commissioner H said that adherents of the belief claimed they had the religious freedom to disobey the government and were not afraid of punitive action.

“They are not afraid of being prosecuted for their beliefs as they are more afraid of being identified with the Devil,” one enumerator said.

The Presbyterian Church Synod, the highest decision making body of the largest Church in the state on June 13 issued a message to all members asking them to cooperate with census officials as it was the duty of every citizen to do so.

“We (the believers) should not be afraid of the Beast (Devil), rather the Beast should be afraid of us as we believe in God who is more powerful,” the message said.

The Church said that UID was important to identity bona fide citizens of the country and also help in identifying illegal immigrants and terrorists.

The Church also condemned people who were issuing booklets about the ‘Number of the Beast’ to terrify  church members.

The message of the Presbyterian Church was read out in all church branches in the state, but there were still some who were skeptical, a church elder said.

Enumerators were instructed by District Magistrates of all the eight districts in the state to identify those refusing to cooperate on religious grounds.

The reports lying with five District Magistrates indicated that there were 939 families who have refused to have their names registered in the NPR, official sources said.

Aizawl district has the largest number of of 483 families including 132 from Aizawl city followed by 158 families in Champhai district.

Serchhip district had 135 families and Lawngtlai district 130 families, while there were 33 families in Kolasib district refusing to be enumerated, the sources said.

District Magistrate Bidhuri convened a meeting for people who refused to cooperate with the census officials on June 11 where only two persons, after being given explanations, agreed to cooperate with officials.

The rest refused to budge from their stand even after the authorities told them that they could be fined up to Rs 1,000 and liable for imprisonment of up to three years.

They were also informed that they could be deprived of their right to franchise, ration cards, works under NREGS and other benefits from the government.

“As they have refused to believe our explanations, we may be left with no other option, but to take punitive action against them,” one official said.

The fear of the Beast is not new among Mizo Christians as many of the sects and cults have refused to enroll their children in school believing enrolment would make them adherents of the Devil.

Many have refused to have ration cards to avail rice at a cheaper rate on the same grounds even though most of them belonged to poorer sections of the society.

Middle-aged ladies carrying baskets-full of firewood and packets of vegetables talking animatedly into the device or daily wage-earners sending text messages between shifts are a common sight on the winding hilly roads.

The latest economic survey reveals that out of a population of around 10 lakh, 5,61,917 people carry mobile phones — a fact which, officials think, is remarkable since the economy is heavily dependent on the service sector for sustenance.

Agriculture and industry contribute less than 40 per cent to the economy, the survey states. – (Agencies)

The National Press Team will be touring Mizoram from June 14 -19, 2010, during which it will visit different villages and towns, where scheme projects under Rural Development, PWD, PHE departments are underway or have been succesfully completed.

During their stay, Press Information Bureau (PIB) leh Rural Development Department officials will conduct and guide their tour.

Silchar, June 8: A major church congregation in Mizoram has said homosexuals would be allowed into the church for regular prayers but would not be allowed to take part in the community ritual of the Sacraments.

Rev. Zosangliana, the moderator of the Mizoram Presbyterian Synod, the largest church assembly in the state, today told The Telegraph over telephone that his church would not include the sexually deviant individuals, both male and female, in the practice of the Sacraments inside the church.

The Sacraments is a religious ceremony during which baptism and penance are bestowed on practising Christians.

The reverend also denied a national agency report quoting the Synod saying homosexuals in Mizoram would either be excommunicated or suspended if they were found to be “gross deviant” in nature.

The Synod is a revered body among the Christians in the state, with nearly 3.5 lakh members, over half the total population of Mizoram. It has over 1,000 churches spread over the state.

Rev. Zosangliana said the Synod recently conducted a survey in Aizawl and found that among the church members, at least 13 pairs were homosexuals.

He said the reports from the state’s other towns and rural areas on the number of the homosexuals in Mizoram were yet to be collected as Presbyterian churches were either in the process of either compiling data of corroborating the cases of these individuals through confessions.

The reverend said in December last year, the Synod was accused of being “too lenient on the cabal of homosexuals”.

At that time it had even toyed with a proposal of excommunicating two homosexual men and two lesbians living together like man and wife, thus “vitiating the general air of decency in society”.

However, Rev. Zosangliana said such a harsh measure did not find favour with the Synod Executive Committee, the highest decision-making body of the Presbyterian congregation in Mizoram. Source: The Telegraph, Kolkata

The Aizawl Development Authority (ADA), with the help of IIT, Kharagpur, has outlined the future city structure comprising satellite townships and new industrial growth centres. IIT, Kharagpur, gave a power-point presentation on the draft Aizawl Master Plan-2030 at a seminar organised by ADA yesterday. It was attended by government officials, NGOs, thinkers and prominent citizens.

In the Master Plan for Aizawl: Vision 2030, the IIT, Kharagpur has divided Aizawl into ten planning zones, each of them covering 15.1 sq km with an expected population of 0.7 lakh population by the year 2030.

Out of the total of 15,280 hectares of planning area, 6,108 hectares (40 pc) is proposed for different urban uses, including 2.38 per cent for commercial use and 0.45 for industrial use and the rest 60 per cent (9,172 hectares) for non-urban uses like agriculture, water bodies, etc. Non-urban area includes undevelopable slopped lands.

The Master Plan also suggested that lands with higher gradients be developed into eco-parks to serve as recreational facilities, and open spaces are proposed in the premises to be vacated by the Assam Rifles. A Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and several taxes to stabilize the economic status of the population of Aizawl have also been proposed.

The Draft Master Plan also included several other important issues including system of alternate roads to decongest the city road traffic, a new system of environment-friendly solid waste management, land use plan, transit and transportation plan, public utilities plan, elimination of slums, educational plan and administrative plan.

Chidambaram flew to Aizawl Tuesday morning and held a series of meetings with Governor M.M. Lakhera, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, his cabinet colleagues and top security and civil officials to review the security situation and other issues.

The home minister also met the leaders of Reang tribals before leaving for Guwahati in Assam. The Reang tribals are originally from Mizoram.

‘Chidambaram has asked the tribal leaders to repatriate all the refugees from Tripura by October this year and requested the Mizoram government to extend all facilities and rehabilitate home-bound tribals,’ a senior official told reporters.

‘What would be the future of your children if you do not live in peace with the Mizo majority in Mizoram,’ Chidambaram asked the tribal leaders.

Chidambaram also discussed with Lal Thanhawla the progress of border fencing, rehabilitation of people affected by the fencing and border trade with neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The mountainous northeastern state of Mizoram has a 722-km international boundary. Most parts of the borders are in hilly terrain, remain unfenced and are porous.

On the advice of the union home ministry, Mizoram last week started taking back around 1,200 tribal refugees from relief camps in northern Tripura where they have been living since November last year after fleeing ethnic clashes in their state.

The refugee repatriation (in three batches) to Mamit district in western Mizoram ends Wednesday.

However, the fate of more than 36,000 refugees who fled Mizoram 13 years ago hangs in the balance.

Refugee leader Elvis Chorkhy, who is also president of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF), said: ‘We shall observe the repatriation and subsequent resettlement of tribal refugees in their villages and then we shall decide the repatriation of the remaining evacuees.’

Since 1997, around 32,000 Reang tribal refugees have taken shelter in six camps in north Tripura, adjacent to Mizoram. They fled western Mizoram after ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos over the killing of a Mizo forest official.

The refugees’ repatriation from Tripura to Mizoram was stopped in November last year when a mob in western Mizoram burnt down around 700 tribal houses after an 18-year-old Mizo youth was shot dead by unidentified miscreants.

Following the arson and violence, about 5,500 displaced Reang tribals took shelter afresh in adjacent north Tripura.

Chidambaram flew into Mizoram capital Aizwal on Monday morning. He is scheduled to meet Mizroam Governor M M Lakhera, Chief Minister Lalthanhawla and other top officials to discuss the security scene in the state.

He will visit Mamit District to inspect the settlement of tribal refugees returning from relief camps in bordering Tripura, official sources said.

It maybe recalled that Mizoram had allowed the refugees to return home after they had fled to Tripura following ethinc clashes.

Chidambaram will head for Assam on Tuesday morning where he is expected to hold meetings with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and other top security officials.

He is expected to review a proposal on peace talks with the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and whether a decision needs to be taken to fast track it.

The recent communal flare-up along the Assam-Meghalaya border is also expected to come up for discussion during the visit.(ANI)