Center’s high level committee submits its implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord

The Clause provides constitutional, administrative and legislative safeguards

• A high-level committee submitted its report to the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord
• The committee was headed by Retd Justice B K Sharma. The report is to be submitted by the CM to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah
• The Clause provides constitutional, administrative and legislative safeguards to preserve and promote cultural, linguistic and heritage of Assamese people

Key highlights of the implementation actions

• The Centre constituted the high-level committee on July 16, 2019, for recommending measures to implement the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord
• The committee has submitted its report to the Assam chief minister after Union Home Minister Amit Shah advised the state government that the Assam chief minister should receive the report on his behalf
• Clause 6 of the Assam Accord pledges to provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people
• The Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra Society was formed with funds from Ministry of HRD
• Jyoti Chitraban film Studio scheme was launched and in phase II, the studio was modernized
• The Archaeological Survey of India took up preservation of 5 monuments namely Singri Temple ruins, Poa-Mecca, Urvashi Archaeological site, Kedar Temple

What is Assam Accord?

• It was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement on 15 August 1985
• Later Citizenship Act was amended for the first time in the next year, 1986
• It followed a six-year agitation that started in 1979. Led by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the protestors demanded the identification and deportation of all illegal foreigners – predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants
• They feared the past and continuing large scale migration was overwhelming the native population, impacting their political rights, culture, language and land rights
• The Assam Movement caused the estimated death of over 855 people. The movement ended with the signing of the Assam Accord
• The Government of India acknowledged the political, social, cultural and economic concerns of the Assamese people and agreed to revise the electoral database based on that date
• According to the Assam Accord, the Government of India agreed to secure the international border against future infiltration by the “erection of physical barriers like walls
• The accord brought an end to the Assam Movement and paved the way for the leaders of the agitation to form a political party and form a government in the state of Assam soon after

What is “Assam Movement”?

• Assam movement (1979-1985) was a popular movement against illegal immigrants in Assam
• The movement, led by All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP)
• It developed a program of protests and demonstrations to compel the Indian government to identify and expel illegal, (mostly Bangladeshi), immigrants and to protect and provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the indigenous Assamese people
• The Nellie massacre and Khoirabari massacre were cases of extreme violence. The unrest officially ended on 15 August 1985, following the Assam Accord

Pic courtesy : The Sentinel