Committee on Clause 6 ‘Assamese’ or ‘Indigenous People’?

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The high-level committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord has received as many as 200 memoranda by September 20, 2019 on the very clause. Now, according to sources, the high-level committee is going to meet on September 22, 2019 when all the memoranda are supposed to be placed before it. The committee is going to critically examine them.

Clause 6 of the historic Assam Accord 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”.

Talking to The Sentinel, AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi, one of the members of the committee, went on record saying earlier: “In its report the committee will take care to ensure that all political, linguistic, cultural and other rights of the people of the State are protected.”

The most crucial question is: what will the high-level committee term the ‘people to be provided constitutional safeguards in accordance with Clause of the Assam Accord’ – ‘Assamese people’ or ‘indigenous people’? The crux of the matter lies there. Since 1985, there has been no definition of ‘Assamese’ or ‘indigenous Assamese’ acceptable to all. The previous government did try to define the term ‘Assamese’ without success.

The 14-member committee headed Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sarma, former Judge, Gauhati High Court was given six-month time by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The committee was constituted on July 15, 2019.

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