Guwahati – The All Assam Students’ Union and 25 other ethnic bodies, mostly student organisations, arrived at a consensus today that there should be Constitutional safeguard and 100 per cent seat reservation in local bodies, State Assembly and the Parliament for ‘Indigenous and Indigenous Assamese’ people.
The student body claimed that this terminology would resolve all sorts of confrontations and foil the State government’s attempt to create mutual distrust among the ethnic communities.
Addressing the media here, AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said that after considering all the definitions of ‘Assamese people’ coming from credible organisations and individuals, the 26 ethnic bodies have derived a workable solution, reported The Assam Tribune.
“Considering the situation in the State after India’s independence and the prevalent process of assimilation, all the persons having their names in the NRC prepared on the basis of the first census of independent India in 1951, belonging to any caste, community, religion, language or tribe, and their descendents, are ‘indigenous and indigenous Assamese’ for the purpose of Constitutional safeguard and seat reservation,” he said.
The AASU alleged that a simple issue was complicated by the State government, which lacked political will to implement Clause Six of the Assam Accord.
“Now that everything has been clearly explained by the 26 ethnic bodies, it is the responsibility of the State government to prepare the list of beneficiaries under Clause Six. The ethnic bodies would soon meet all the literary bodies of the State for building consensus on the definition,” added Bhattacharyya.
The All Assam Tribal League general secretary Aditya Khaklari said preparing the list would not be a tough job for the government as the lists of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people already exist.
Citing from the recent Supreme Court order, the AASU said that even the apex court had recognised that the demographic composition in the districts of Assam bordering Bangladesh had been altered. A population growth above national average and illegal influx had also impaired the national security.
“The AASU has been reiterating that the definition of Assamese is only required for seat reservation and the government must act on implementing other parts of the Constitutional safeguard. The State government’s apathetic attitude is an indicator of its sympathies towards the illegal Bangladeshis,” Bhattacharyya alleged.