GUWAHATI, Aug 13 � As a mark of protest against the failure of the State and Central governments in implementing the Assam Accord in its letter and spirit even after nearly 26 years of its signing, the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) will resort to a Statewide hunger strike from 6 am tomorrow till the time of unfurling of the National Flag on August 15, the nation�s Independence Day.
Equating the �apathy� of the governments with �disrespect� shown to democratic protests, the AASU said that the last 26 years would rank as a period of false assurances and non-performance on the part of the governments on the issue of implementation of the Assam Accord � a document critical to the very existence of the indigenous populace of the State.
In a statement, AASU president Sankar Prasad Rai and general secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi said that the historic six-year Assam Movement culminated with the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985 but both the Centre and the State governments had all along been betraying utter neglect to its implementation.
�None of the political parties that had shared power in these two-and-a-half decades in both the Centre and the State exhibited any semblance of inclination towards implementing the accord, undermining the greater interest of Assam�s indigenous people for securing votes of illegal Bangladeshi migrants who threaten to outnumber the indigenous in their own homeland,� the AASU leaders said.
Pointing out that the tripartite meet between the AASU, State government and the Centre held under the presidentship of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on May 5, 2005 which decided on having time-bound implementation of different clauses of the accord such as National Register of Citizens (NRC) update, sealing of the Indo-Bangladesh border, declaration of flood and erosion of the State as a national problem, and providing constitutional safeguard for protecting the identity of the indigenous populace, etc., the AASU leaders said that none of the commitments made during the meet was honoured.
�It is deplorable that decisions made at a prime ministerial level meet have not been implemented till date. It exposes the utter lack of sincerity on the part of the governments,� they said.
The AASU leaders said that in the last 26 years, few illegal migrants had been detected and deported while the Indo-Bangladesh border remained porous, facilitating large-scale infiltration from Bangladesh into Assam.
�The Centre can seal the Indo-Pakistan border in three years, whereas the 272-km stretch of the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam remains open since the last 26 years in spite of the grave threats in the form of widespread infiltration. Along with Bangladeshis, fundamentalist elements have also sneaked into Assam to foment trouble,� it added.
Terming as an �unpardonable offence�, the failure of the governments in implementing the Assam Accord, the AASU demanded that both the Centre and the State governments immediately announce a timeframe for implementation of the Assam Accord.
�The AASU will continue with its intense agitation to safeguard the identity and existence of the indigenous people of the State,� it added.
