HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Sept 8: The Assam Accord must be completely implemented, according to the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), and the state administration is supposed to be proactive throughout the entire process.
The development comes in the wake of announcement made by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma that 52 of the 67 recommendations made by the high-level committee headed by retired Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma regarding the implementation of the Assam accord’s article 6 will be put into effect by April 15, 2025.
“We want the Assam accord to be fully implemented. As one of the participants to the agreement in 1985, AASU will closely monitor its appropriate execution,” said chief advisor of AASU Samujjal Bhattacharya stated on Sunday.
He declared that the state governments could implement part of the suggestions made by the Justice Sarma-led clause 6 panel, and the Central government is responsible for implementing the remaining recommendations.
“The Central government established a high-level committee. The state government now needs to exert pressure on the central government to act quickly on the Biplab Kumar Sarma committee’s recommendations. Furthermore, the people of the state were already promised by Union home minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfil clause 6 of the Assam accord,” Bhattacharya mentioned.
Remarkably, the clause 6 panel headed by Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma recommended that the post-1971 stream of declared foreigners be temporarily relocated outside of Assam until their expulsion process is completed. The panel also provided a definition of “Assamese”.
The committee stated that in order to properly carry out its recommendations, several parliamentary and constitutional modifications would be necessary. It has been said that changes will be necessary to the current Article 371-B of the Constitution.
Enacted after a six-year foreigners’ agitation (1979–1985), the Assam Accord states that all foreigners entering the state after March 25, 1971, will be deported, irrespective of their faith.
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord states that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards will be provided to protect the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
