Assam Accord Clause 6: 13-member panel submits report to CM Sonowal

CLAUSE 6 RELATES TO THE PROTECTION OF THE ASSAMESE IDENTITY. THE 13-MEMBER PANEL WAS CONSTITUTED IN JULY LAST YEAR TO REPLACE THE EARLIER COMMITTEE

GUWAHATI: A 13-member panel set up to study the implementation of the Assam Accord’s Clause 6, which relates to the protection of the Assamese identity, submitted a 170-page report in a sealed cover to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday.

The Centre, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad signed the tripartite accord in 1985 to end a six-year agitation for the identification and deportation of undocumented immigrants from the state.

Clause 6 states: “Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.”

The implementation of Clause 6 remained on the back-burner until the Centre formed a committee in January last year to study it. But all members of this committee resigned amid opposition in Assam to the proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that was eventually passed in December to fast-track the citizenship process for nonmuslims who have entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015.

The countrywide protests against the CAA first erupted in the North-east, especially in Assam, where residents fear the law could result in a fresh influx of outsiders and put pressure on local livelihoods.

Opponents of the CAA there insist it violates the Assam Accord, which promised detection and deportation of undocumented immigrants irrespective of their faith.

The accord also set March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for the detection. A process in line with the accord was carried out in Assam and led to the exclusion of around 2 million people from the National Register of Citizens in 2018.

The 13-member panel was constituted in July last year to replace the earlier committee. “We have received nearly 1,200 recommendations and suggestions from all over Assam. After going through all of them, the members of the committee have unanimously formulated this report,” said Justice (retired) Biplab Kumar Sarma, who headed the 13-member panel.

None of the three AASU representatives on the panel was present when the report was handed over to Sonowal. They are upset that the report was not handed directly to the home ministry that formed the panel.

The report is believed to have recommended 1951 as the cut-off date for determining who an Assamese is and introduction of an Inner Line Permit (ILP) system. ILP is a document that allows an Indian citizen to travel to a protected area.

An upper House for the Assam legislature and reservation of 67% of seats in the elected bodies for the Assamese people are believed to be some other recommendations of the panel, according to people aware of the matter. “We have made some important recommendations in our report. Now the ball is in the Centre’s court,” journalist and a member of the panel, Wasbir Hussain, said.