New Delhi: The 14-member committee on Clause 6 of the historic Assam Accord is ready with its report to submit to the Home Ministry.
Talking to ETV Bharat, Justice (retd) Biplab Kumar Sarma who was heading the committee said that they completed the report on February 10.
"All the stakeholders of the committee have signed the report for its submission in the Home Ministry," said Sharma.
On July 15 last year, the Home Ministry has set up the 14-member committee to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord that was signed in 1985.
Apart from giving Constitutional safeguard, the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord ensures legislative and administrative safeguards of the ingenious people.
The Clause 6 reads: "Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as many be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people."
"Like the terms and reference assigned to us by the government, we have tried our best to define who are Assamese and who are ingenious in Assam," said Biplab Sarma.
In fact, student bodies in Assam as well as the opposition political parties of the state have been demanding for the early implementation of the Clause 6.
Even the student bodies especially All Assam Students Union (AASU) has been demanding implementation of Clause 6 before Government brings the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
AASU believes, Clause 6 could protect the ingenious people from illegal foreigners.
Definition of 'Assamese' was also a critical issue before the committee. On earlier occasions in Assam, most stake holders agreed that the NRC of 1951 should be taken as the cut off for defining 'Assamese people' eligible for the proposed safeguard.
"Assam has so many ingenious tribes, with if community and other people...Though it was a Herculean task, we tried our best to define the ingenious people of Assam," said Sharma.
During the course of their term, the committee members visited as many as seven districts including Kokrajhar, Tezpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Karbi Anglong, Diphu and Silchar.
"As many as 1200 representations were submitted before the committee during the course of time...we believe that this report will be able to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the people of Assam," said Sharma.
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