GUWAHATI: The BJP-led Assam cabinet has accepted 57 of the 67 recommendations by an MHA-constituted commission on implementation of constitutional, legal, and administrative safeguards for “Assamese people”, as envisaged in Clause 6 of the tripartite 1985 Assam Accord.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma termed the Justice (retd) Biplab Sarma Commission’s report, submitted in Feb 2020, “one of the most significant efforts since Independence to protect the rights of the people of Assam”.
Implementation of Clause 6, which commits to “protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”, remains a hot-button topic even 39 years after the accord was signed.
The commission’s report defines “Assamese people” as any bona fide Indian citizen, including the indigenous tribal communities, residing in Assam on or before Jan 1, 1951, and their descendants.
One of the key recommendations is to restrict land rights, specifically preventing transfer of land by any means to anyone who is not an Assamese. “Over the decades, the demographic change that is discernible in 11 districts of the state of Assam deepens the anxiety and fear of the indigenous communities of being rendered into a minority in their home state,” the report states.
The commission also recommends reservation of 80% of seats for the “Assamese people” in the assembly and local bodies, saying that “such reservations should be appropriately effected in the constituencies of the districts which have undergone demographic changes”.
Sarma said the 10 recommendations on hold would be taken up with the Centre in a phased manner. The state cabinet, which met in Lakhimpur late Wednesday, has already prepared a roadmap for the implementation of the other 57 recommendations by April 15 next year, he said.
These will be made public after consultations with Aasu, the student organisation whose historic mass movement against illegal immigration from Bangladesh led to the signing of the 1985 agreement, and other stakeholders within the next few days. AGP, an ally of BJP, was born out of the accord.
The Justice Sarma commission’s report states that unless the political rights of the Assamese people are safeguarded, no number of protective measures can maintain their cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage.
For protection of indigenous languages, the commission recommends that Assamese remain the official language of Assam, with provisions for use of local languages in the Barak Valley, hill districts, and the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District.
The cabinet’s endorsement of the majority of its recommendations comes in the wake of renewed demands by some organisations, especially in upper Assam, for the protection of the rights of indigenous people.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma termed the Justice (retd) Biplab Sarma Commission’s report, submitted in Feb 2020, “one of the most significant efforts since Independence to protect the rights of the people of Assam”.
Implementation of Clause 6, which commits to “protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”, remains a hot-button topic even 39 years after the accord was signed.
The commission’s report defines “Assamese people” as any bona fide Indian citizen, including the indigenous tribal communities, residing in Assam on or before Jan 1, 1951, and their descendants.
One of the key recommendations is to restrict land rights, specifically preventing transfer of land by any means to anyone who is not an Assamese. “Over the decades, the demographic change that is discernible in 11 districts of the state of Assam deepens the anxiety and fear of the indigenous communities of being rendered into a minority in their home state,” the report states.
The commission also recommends reservation of 80% of seats for the “Assamese people” in the assembly and local bodies, saying that “such reservations should be appropriately effected in the constituencies of the districts which have undergone demographic changes”.
Sarma said the 10 recommendations on hold would be taken up with the Centre in a phased manner. The state cabinet, which met in Lakhimpur late Wednesday, has already prepared a roadmap for the implementation of the other 57 recommendations by April 15 next year, he said.
These will be made public after consultations with Aasu, the student organisation whose historic mass movement against illegal immigration from Bangladesh led to the signing of the 1985 agreement, and other stakeholders within the next few days. AGP, an ally of BJP, was born out of the accord.
The Justice Sarma commission’s report states that unless the political rights of the Assamese people are safeguarded, no number of protective measures can maintain their cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage.
For protection of indigenous languages, the commission recommends that Assamese remain the official language of Assam, with provisions for use of local languages in the Barak Valley, hill districts, and the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District.
The cabinet’s endorsement of the majority of its recommendations comes in the wake of renewed demands by some organisations, especially in upper Assam, for the protection of the rights of indigenous people.