MHA gives panel 1 more month to finalise report

NEW DELHI: A high-level committee, set up by the home ministry to suggest ways for providing constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people of Assam, has been given one-month extension to submit its report, said senior MHA officials who did not want to be named.

According to the terms and conditions, “the committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people.”

Assam has been witnessing continuous protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, which gives citizenship to religious persecuted minorities from nearby countries such as Pakistan , Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but omits Muslims. There has been a growing concern among the indigenous people of Assam that the newly enacted legislation will damage their culture and economy.

Earlier, a four-member delegation of the committee, headed by Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma, met home minister Amit Shah and briefed him about the progress of its work. It had also sought a 15-day extension to submit it’s report.

The committee was set up in mid-july last year.

The committee, with more than a dozen members, was set up according to Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord.

Last week, Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had met the home minister last week and discussed with him various aspects of the Assam Accord’s Clause 6, under which the central government had promised to provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people.