In the year 2002, efforts continued to settle the issue of rehabilitation of Reang refugees camping in North Tripura district's Kanchanpur sub-division, in six camps. On August 23, 2002, in a significant climb down at the sixth round of talks with the Mizoram government in Aizwal, the Reang terrorist outfit, Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) agreed to settle for an Area Development Council for the Reang population in Mizoram. Its original demand was for an Autonomous District Council (ADC) comprising Reang dominated areas of Mizoram. Earlier in April 2002, Thang Masha, the outfit's president, had conveyed his intention to discuss a regional council comprising the western part of Mamit district in the State. The BNLF put forth its 10-point demand in the talks with the government, subsequently in October. Its demands included the creation of a separate autonomous district council under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, reservation of five seats in the State Legislative Assembly for the Brus in Mizoram and 10 per cent of government jobs for the educated Brus, and repatriation of refugees to the State from camps in Tripura, among others.
The government responded by stating that repatriation would not be considered unless the BNLF put an end to violence and the cadres came over-ground. However, the outfit has not yet made clear its stand on the surrender of cadres thus far. The Mizoram government, in a statement issued earlier, on February 16, by State Home Minister Tawnluia had asked the BNLF cadres to surrender before repatriation could commence. Mizoram had also made it clear that any talks with the BNLF have to be bilateral. Earlier, the government had asked Liandawla, a Mizo Church leader, to facilitate talks with the BNLF. That proposal of negotiations could not materialise as the outfit insisted in July that a representative of the Union government must attend the talks.
Mizoram also contributed in bringing about peace outside its boundaries, in another State of Northeast India-Nagaland. Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga was drafted by the Union government to use his experience of the past to broker peace with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland -Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM). Zoramthanga is also the president of the Mizo National Front (MNF) that had once spearheaded a bloody insurgency, between 1966-86, in Mizoram State, which witnessed several hundred civilian and security force casualties during that period. Ultimately, the MNF reached a negotiated agreement with the Union government in 1986, following, which peace returned to the Sate and the MNF went on to form the government.
Zoramthanga participated in the Bangkok Naga-meet, in May 2002, arranged to elicit the opinion of the various sections of the Naga people on the ongoing Naga peace process. After his talks with Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, president and general secretary respectively of the NSCN-IM, he expressed the opinion that the NSCN-IM leaders were willing to come to India for further negotiations.
Also, during the year past, Chief Minister Zoramthanga, upon the request of his Tripura counterpart, Manik Sarkar, made a sincere, but unsuccessful, attempt to negotiate with National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) terrorists. The effort was made apparently to bring NLFT to the negotiating table.
The year 2002 did not witness any major terrorism-related incident involving terrorist outfits whose main area of operation is Mizoram. However, four terrorists–– three belonging to the Union Territory Demand Army (UTDA) and another of the little known Mizoram Farmers Liberation Force (MFLF), surrendered to the Saiha district police chief in March, 2002.
Nevertheless, there occurred isolated incidents of violence committed by terrorist outfits whose primary area of operation is outside Mizoram the previous year, in 2001. These involved a few incidents of attacks on police posts and abductions of government employees for ransom.
United National Liberation Front (UNLF) terrorists, on December 17, 2001, engaged the Mizoram Armed Police (MAP) in an encounter at Vaitin village in Aizwal. No injuries or casualties were reported. On September 24, 2001 four NSCN-IM terrorists coming to Mizoram from Bangladesh were killed allegedly by their own accomplices, while five other NSCN-IM terrorists surrendered to Border Security Force (BSF) personnel near Parva village in Lawngtlai district of southern Mizoram. The State also witnessed some more surrenders when eight Manipur-based Hmar People's Convention–Democrat (HPC-D) cadres surrendered to the authorities, on October 19, 2001. While four had surrendered at Khawlian hamlet, three others surrendered at Sakawrdai village in Aizwal.
On April 11, same year two employees each of the Power Grid Corporation of India and the State Public Welfare Department (PWD) had been abducted by HPC-D terrorists. However, the terrorists released them on June 24 following mediation by civil society groups.
Meanwhile, the security forces continued to maintain a strict vigil to further strengthen peace in the State. In fact, operations against potential saboteurs were conducted. On August 25, Assam Rifles raided a Chin National Army (CNA) camp in Zawngling area, Saiha district. Occurrence of these incidents apart, 2001, as a whole, for Mizoram, was a year in which efforts continued to strengthen the existing peaceful environment in the State, and help bringing in peace in the neighbouring States.