AIZAWL: An 85-year-old man from Bangladesh, who was allegedly pushed back from Mizoram, has died of hunger in a jungle near Mizoram border, a local leader familiar with the matter said.
Sawmkhupa, a pastor of Bangladesh Tribal Baptist Church, was camping in a jungle without food for nearly a week, Parva village council president and refugee organising committee chairman Gospel Hmangaihzuala said.
He was pushed back along with other refugees from Simnasora village in Mizoram by jawans of Border Security Force (BSF) soon after he entered the border village recently, Gospel alleged.
Altogether, 328 people from Bangladesh have taken refuge in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district since November last year, according to officials.
The refugees fled their homes following the armed conflict between Bangladesh Army and Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA), an ethnic insurgent group that demands separate state for the Kuki-Chin community in Bangladesh.
Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), the largest and most influential civil society organisations in the state has expressed regret for the incident and wished that such thing don’t happen in the future.
The organisation will also hold a demonstration in front of the Raj Bhavan in Aizawl on January 9 to extend solidarity to the Kuki-Chin people, CYMA general secretary Prof. Lalnuntluanga said.
The meeting of CYMA’s executive committee on Thursday also urged the Centre to provide shelter, food and other basic amenities to the Kuki-Chin refugees on humanitarian ground.
The Kuki-Chin community in Bangladesh share ethnic ties with the Mizos.
The Mizoram cabinet in November had decided that the state government would provide temporary shelter, food and other basic amenities to the Kuki-Chin refugees.