Noisy scene in assembly over Assam Accord implementation

Guwahati: The assembly on Wednesday witnessed a noisy scene over implementation of the Assam Accord with the opposition accusing the government of not doing enough to execute the agreement.

Replying to a query by Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed, Implementation of Assam Accord Minister Atul Bora said a sub-committee has been formed to prepare a roadmap to fulfil all the clauses of the historical agreement and has already held five meetings.

"We hope to prepare a blueprint within three months and then we will be able to submit the report. The Home Ministry is the nodal ministry to implement the Assam Accord," he said, adding that the government is bound to implement each and every clause of the agreement.

Bora said the Congress was in power in Delhi and Assam for a long time, and this accord could have been implemented if the grand old party had the goodwill.

"If the Congress had not brought foreigners to consolidate its vote bank, such a situation would not have arisen," he said.

His comment triggered a protest by all the Congress legislators who stood up and showed placards against the government.

They demanded the implementation of the Accord.

"The BJP has been in power for the last eight years. So, please say what you have done. Former PM Manmohan Singh had held a tripartite meeting in 2005 and started works to implement it, and we should not forget it," Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia said.

Speaking on the Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma committee report, Bora said some advocates have voiced their objections pointing towards legal issues.

"We do not want any challenge to the report. That is why we formed a sub-committee, which is working now," he said.

Several clauses of the Assam Accord are still being implemented, the minister said.

He told the House that so far 30,113 foreigners have been "pushed back" since the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985.

Of the 267.5 km-long international border of Assam with Bangladesh, 4.35 km in Karimganj district is yet to be sealed due to objections by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Bora said.

In October 2021, the Assam government set up the eight-member sub-committee to prepare a framework within three months for the implementation of all clauses of the 39-year-old Assam Accord, especially the Clause-6 report prepared by a central panel. It is yet to submit its report.

On February 25, 2020, the Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma-led High-Level Committee (HLC) of the Ministry of Home Affairs had submitted its report on the implementation of the Assam Accord to then Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for handing it over to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Before the Assam assembly polls in 2021, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was a senior cabinet minister in the previous BJP government, had said that the government could not implement the recommendations of the HLC as those are "far from legal reality".

The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 after a six-year-long violent anti-foreigner movement. It stated, among other clauses, that names of all foreigners coming to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 would be detected and deleted from electoral rolls and steps would be taken to deport them.

A series of committees have been formed since 1985 by successive governments, promising to implement the historic pact in letter and spirit. But many of the clauses remained unfulfilled, including the most contentious Clause-6.

As per Clause-6 of the Assam Accord, 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.