Displaced Brus sheltered in Tripura’s North district informed the district magistrate on Monday that the inmates of Naisingpara and Ashapara camps were not receiving rations because of a blockade between Kanchanpur sub-division and Anandabazar.

The blockade was, however, withdrawn on Monday afternoon following which officials said the supply of rations would resume from Tuesday.

A memorandum signed by the general secretary of Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum Bruno Msha and its president A. Sawibunga and submitted to North district magistrate Ravel H. Kumar said, “The Naisingpara and Ashapara camp inmates are not getting rations as the road from Kanchanpur food storage to Anandabazar has been blocked by non-tribals.”

The Forum said the subdivisional magistrate of Kanchanpur, Abhedananda Baidya, has taken the initiative to draw rations from the Anandabazar food godown on December 15. However, local residents did not allow him to release the rations.

“We would like to request you to kindly bring the rations for the displaced Brus by providing adequate police security from Kanchanpur to the relief camps as soon as possible,” the memorandum said.

Baidya said they could not distribute rations in the camps because of an indefinite strike by the Nagarik Suraksha Manch and Unnoyan Manch but the strike was withdrawn on Monday, supply of rations would resume from Tuesday.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Unoyan Manch secretary Susanta Barua alleged that communal clashes had started in the sub-division after the displaced Brus came to Tripura in 1997.

“We had never witnessed clashes here. We called an indefinite strike on December 9. When North East Students Organisation (Neso) called a strike protesting against the citizenship bill, they vandalised the shops and houses of Bengali people with the help of Bru refugees,” he alleged.

He said they have demanded that the government should send the Bru refugees back from where they came and that it should provide compensation to the victims who lost their shops during the clash and to the day labourers who suffered during the Neso bandh.

“We held a meeting with the district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate and superintendent of police on Monday and gave an ultimatum of 25 days. We shall step up our movement if our demands are not met. We withdrew our bandh after they assured us of fulfilling our demands,” he said.