Assam Accord clauses will be honoured, says CM Sonowal

GUWAHATI

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday asserted that his government is committed to fulfilling all clauses of the Assam Accord, including Clause 6, and publication of a flawless National Register of Citizens (NRC).

While distributing land allotment certificates to landless indigenous people in his constituency Majuli, Sonowal said that after coming to power, he went to see the progress of fencing work along Indo-Bangladesh border and with the help of the Centre, concrete steps were taken to seal the boundary.

As a mark of tribute to the martyrs of the Assam Agitation, the government has provided their family members with financial assistance to the tune of Rs 5 lakh each and those who suffered injuries were given Rs 2 lakh each, an official release said.

The Chief Minister said that his government would relentlessly pursue to fulfil all the clauses of Assam Accord, including Clause 6.

The signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 ended a six-year-long, violent anti-immigrant movement in the Northeastern state bordering Bangladesh, and as per its Clause 6, Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

The bone of contention since the signing of the Accord was the definition of Assamese people.

The Chief Minister initiated the second phase of distribution of land allotment certificates to indigenous landless people at Majuli where over 3,000 people received the document, the release said.

The certificates allotment was carried out throughout the state on Monday with more than one lakh indigenous people securing their rights on their land, it said.

The Chief Minister said this is a move to the fulfilment of one of the demands of the Assam Agitation and it is a 'red-letter day' for the people of Assam.

Sonowal said that his government had decided to allot land allotment certificates to landless indigenous people immediately after coming to power in 2016.

The Chief Minister also said that his government will ensure that a flawless NRC is published.

The final NRC was published on August 31, 2019, by excluding 19.06 lakh people. A total of 3.11 crore names were included out of 3.30 crore applicants.

The NRC is an exercise to verify the citizenship of people living in Assam.

The state government has rejected NRC as it claimed that many ineligible persons managed to include their names while genuine Indian citizens were left out from the database. (PTI)