Committee to look into Assam Accord clause on Social, Cultural Identity

The union government has notified a high-level committee headed by retired Gauhati High Court judge Biplab Kumar Sarma to look into the implementation of Assam Accord clause on Social, Cultural Identity.

Mandate for the Committee

• To review the implementation of clause 6 of the Assam Accord which provides for Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
• To examine the effectiveness of actions taken since 1985 to implement Clause 6
• To look into the need for reservation in government jobs for Assamese people, besides recommending measures required to preserve the culture and identity of the local people.
• To suggest measures to be taken to protect Assamese and other indigenous languages of Assam.
• To suggest any other measures as may be necessary to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

Assam Accord

Assam Accord (1985) was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement in on 15 August 1985.

The accord was a step towards the culmination of a movement against immigration from Bangladesh. The cutoff date to be considered as citizens of India under the accord was set at March 24, 1971. The immigrant’s up to March 24, 1971, will get all rights as citizens of India.

But these immigrants are not eligible for safeguards meant for Assamese people because the cutoff for defining “Assamese people” for the proposed safeguards was set at National registry of Citizens, 1951. Hence those who migrated between 1951 and 1971 to Assam would be Indian citizens, but would not be eligible for safeguards meant for “Assamese people”.