No question of constitutional protection for advanced and privileged community: BJSM

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) on Tuesday strongly raised an objection over the implementation of clause VI of Assam Accord and said that there was no question for constitutional protection of advanced and privileged community like Assamese in Assam and also reiterated that the word 'indigenous' was mixed with Assamese definition.

In a statement issued by the president of the BJSM, Janaklal Basumatary, it was stated that the implementation of clause VI of Assam Accord as mentioned by the implementation committee report was illegal and unconstitutional. He said the committee and its constituent body were not clear what constitutional safeguard they meant, what safeguard they wanted and from whom as they were the majority class of society.

Basumatary said the general Assamese people were enjoying 90 per cent wealth of State, leaving 10 per cent for socially backward Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Assamese language was the official language. So there was no constitutional scope to get 70 per cent-90 per cent reservation for general Assamese people. They had also mixed up the definition of Assamese with indigenous and reservation with indigenous. "The reservation is given for social backward and weaker sections of society, not for advanced and powerful section of society," he added.

"Indigenous word is mixed up with Assamese definition," he said, adding that all living in Assam before 1951 were neither Assamese nor indigenous, as nowhere has it been defined like this in the Constitution of India, they were Indian citizens within definition of citizen under article 5 of the Constitution of India. He said all Assamese living before 1951 were not indigenous and all indigenous were not qualified for constitutional safeguard through reservation. "The indigenous as well as socially backward weaker section of the society are only qualified for constitutional safeguard through reservation," he said, adding that the committee report was unnecessary and meaningless.

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