Assam Accord Completes 34 Years Implementation Still A Far Cry!

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam Accord has completed 34 years. On this historic day (midnight of August 14, 1985), the AASU (All Assam Students’ Union), one of the main signatories of the Accord, is in a sullen mood. What makes the AASU leaders glum is that though most of the parties ruled Dispur and New Delhi during the past 34 bygone years yet none of them was sincere enough the solve the problem of foreigners in the State, the main clause of the Accord. Now the AASU leaders want nothing short of ‘separate time stipulations’ for the implementation of each and every clause of the Accord.

In a statement issued to the media on Wednesday, AASU president Dipanko Kumar Nath and general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi rued the most unfortunate fact that in the past 34 years foreigners staying illegally in the State could not be detected and deported, nor could their names be deleted from the electoral roll. The two student leaders said that even now a 286-km land and riverine stretch along the Assam-Bangladesh border has been open. “Even fundamentalists have been entering Assam through this open border, let alone hordes of illegal Bangladeshis. It’s sad that in the past 34 years the State and the Central governments couldn’t provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people of the State. Nor could they protect tribal blocks and belts and xatra lands from encroachers of suspected nationalities. Doesn’t it expose the government’s lack of caring for Assam?” the statement issued by the AASU said.

AASU adviser-in-chief Samujjal Bhattacharya said: “The Assam Accord is a national assurance. Not implementing the Accord for long 34 years is a direct insult to the assurance given by the State and the Central governments to the people of Assam. However, NRC update is underway in the State in accordance with the Assam Accord. It’s going on under the supervision of the Supreme Court of India. We’re hopeful of getting a correct NRC under the stewardship of the apex court. Only 15 days are to go for the publication of the final NRC. We appeal to all parties concerned to ensure that an error-free citizens’ register is published.”

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