Assam Accord, 1985, Clause 6
“Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.”
- There has been no forward movement on implementing Clause 6 because of the question of defining who exactly constitutes the “Assamese people” eligible for safeguards. The government had asked for views/suggestions from people/organisations time to time. Most agree the 1951 NRC should be taken as the cutoff for the definition. In 2019, the Centre set up a committee to look into the issue.
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Last month, Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma set the cat among the pigeons when he quoted the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind as claiming that the original inhabitants of the state were Dravidians who were driven out of the state by “Tibeto-Burman people and Mongolian tribes”. The Jamiat’s claim implies that the Ahoms and the...
