New Delhi: With the last working day of the high-level committee constituted for implementation of Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord coming closer, retired Gauhati High Court judge Biplab Kumar Sarma, who is heading the panel, said that they are in the final stage of preparing the report and may require an extension of a week- 10 ten days to submit the report to the Home Ministry.
"Since our task is almost over, some minor corrections here and there are left to be done..we are in the final stage of the report.. we might need a week or ten days time beyond the deadline to complete the task," Sarma told ETV Bharat after meeting the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Monday.
The meet called by Shah was attended by four of the 13 members of the panel, but was skipped by leaders of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), one of the signatories of the 1985 Assam Accord.
"We got a call from the Ministry of Home Affairs and during the meeting, various legal issues were discussed. We are yet to work on those issues, " said Sarma while elaborating on the purpose of the meeting.
When asked about the content of the report, the retired Judge said, "I cannot divulge the details of the report. As per the Terms of Reference, we have to discuss the issue with various stakeholders. We visited various places of Assam, covering almost all the districts, and spoke to various individuals, and organisations, and after taking their views into consideration we have prepared the report. Only minor things are left to be done."
On whether the panel has been able to define who is an 'Assamese', Sarma said, "That is in the report itself... but I cannot talk about these things now. Clause 6 says 'Assamese', we had to define that and identify Assamese people accordingly. We have worked out a definition."
The report of this committee assumes significance against the backdrop of the ongoing protest over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). In fact, organisations spearheading the movement against CAA, have been demanding implementation of the committee's report.
When asked if he hopes that the report would bring some relief to those opposing CAA, Sarma said, "Our task is to spell out the measures that need to be adopted to safeguard the cultural heritage, etc. of the Assamese people. CAA is a different issue altogether."
The committee was assigned to hold discussions with all stakeholders and assess the required quantum of reservation of seats in Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for Assamese people.
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It was also asked to assess the measures to be adopted to protect the Assamese and other indigenous languages of Assam, the quantum of reservation in employment under the government of Assam, among other things.
The committee has members including All Assam Students Union (AASU) leaders Samujjal Bhattacharya, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, Dipanka Kumar Nath, Assam advocate general, among others.
Joint Secretary (Northeast) in the Home Ministry Satyendra Garg is the member secretary of the committee.
