Guwahati: In what can be termed a major development to ensure constitutional safeguards for the indigenous and marginalised communities of Assam as per Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, the Assam Government had a detailed discussion with the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) on 22 November. The meeting was held to discuss ways to implement the report of the high-level committee chaired by retired Justice Biplab Kumar Sharma, constituted earlier by the Central Government.
Almost four decades after the signing of the Assam Accord, AASU and other allied groups have been urging the government to implement all recommendations of the Biplab Sharma Commission to extend long-pending constitutional safeguards to the original inhabitants of Assam.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presided over the discussion, which was held the night before in his office at Lok Sewa Bhawan, Dispur. AASU President Utpal Sarma, General Secretary Samiran Phukan, and Chief Advisor Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya were formally invited to attend.
Moreover, the retired Justice Biplab Kumar Sharma Committee had identified 67 specific issues earlier. Of these, 40 fall wholly within the state government's domain, 15 in that of the Central Government, while 12 require consideration by both together.
AASU advisor Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya said that all constitutional protections must be delivered now. He said the state government had already completed three rounds of discussion on 52 recommendations under its purview. A monitoring committee comprising Ministers Atul Bora, Piyush Hazarika, Ajanta Neog, and AASU representatives had been constituted to supervise implementation and ensure timely progress.
“Our stand remains the same. All recommendations of the Biplab Sharma Commission must be implemented. Problems relating to the Assam Accord and NRC must also be solved,” Bhattacharya said.
AASU President Utpal Sarma added that an action plan for the 52 state-level recommendations had already been prepared. While several issues were being acted upon, matters requiring Central intervention were still pending. A tripartite meeting involving the Centre, State and AASU is expected around December–January to address them.
Subsequently, AASU insisted that all decisions taken by the state should be completed by February 2025. The organisation also sought presentation of the report of the Tiwari Commission and the privately constituted Mehta Commission report in the Assembly. The revival of this dialogue is part of AASU's persistent effort towards the implementation in full of the historic pledges made for safeguarding the indigenous and marginalised people of Assam.