Mizoram villagers cross over to Bangladesh, provide food to starving Kuki-Chin refugees

AIZAWL: Evading the prying eyes of BSF personnel and braving all other odds, villagers of Mizoram have reportedly crossed the porous international border to provide food to more than 100 Kuki-Chin refugees from Bangladesh who were left starving in the jungles on the other side of the border after being pushed back by the BSF last Friday.
According to reports from Parva hamlet in Lawngtlai district, villagers sneaked into the jungles one by one to go unnoticed and crossed the border on Monday to help the refugees with whom they share the same ethnic lineage. "The refugees were starving while proceeding towards Mizoram through the jungle tracks and were without food for four days after being pushed back by BSF personnel," a source said.
The exodus of Kuki-Chin community began after the Bangladesh Army attacked Chheihkhiang and nearby villages in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) on November 16. The first batch of refugees numbering 272 took shelter at Parva village.
The Kuki-Chin people have been demanding a separate state comprising the areas occupied by the community in the CHT and the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) was formed to achieve their goals resulting in armed clashes with the Bangladesh Army.
In the meanwhile, the lone Lok Sabha member from the state, C Lalrosanga, raised the issue of the refugees from Bangladesh in the pre-legislature party meeting of the NDA chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday. Lalrosanga informed the meeting that the refugees from Bangladesh are from the ethnic Kuki-Chin community and should be provided humanitarian assistance.
He said the BSF authorities should also be instructed to be considerate and allow the refugees to take shelter in India.
Leader of the Kuki-Chin community in Mizoram, JH Pianga, alleged that the Kuki-Chin people in the CHT were not allowed to purchase commodities in the amount they desired and were also not allowed to sell any goods. Besides, no member of the sub-tribes were allowed to hold high positions in the government.
"The Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) was formed to seek justice for the six Mizo sub-clans in Bangladesh and for formation of a separate state for them," Pianga said.