GUWAHATI, Dec 22 � The round table conference convened by the Ahom Royal Society here today called for a special state status to Assam, similar to Jammu and Kashmir, under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
It also said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) should be updated only after deletion of the illegal migrants� names from the electoral rolls and their deportation.
The conference further demanded steps to institute a high level enquiry to find out those responsible for tainting Swargadeo Sukapha as a foreigner in the rejected Assam tableau prepared for the ensuing Republic Day function in New Delhi.
The conference was also of the opinion that the name of Assam should be retained as it is today.
Addressing a press conference after the conference, Ahom Royal Society secretary general Uttam Kumar Barua and spokesman of the Society Dr Jintu Hazarika said that the conference resented the mistake concerning Swargadeo Sukapha. The participants of the conference, who were representatives of over 20 organisations, resented the gaffe as a crime.
They further said that considering the geographical location and the sensitive patter of its demography, the State should be granted a special state status like the J&K.
Moreover, the participants of the conference extended their support to the demand of the six ethnic groups� Koch-Rajbongshis, Ahoms, Moran, Mataks, Chutiya and Tea Tribe communities --- for according them scheduled tribe status, said Barua and Hazarika.
The conference observed that all the districts of the State should be provided with district autonomous councils for the all-round development of all the ethnic groups, they said.
The Society leaders also informed that they would hold an international conference on Swargadeo Sukapha in the city next year.
The organisations which sent representatives to the conference included Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party, Rastriya Swayam Sevak Sangha, pro-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Koch- Rajbongshi Sanmiloni, Ahom Sabha, Hajo Poa-Mecca Dargah Samiti, Sadou Asam Gariya Yuba Parishad, Sadou Asom Dharmiya Sankhyalaghu Parishad, Sadou Asom Musalman Sangathanar Aikya Mancha, Lachit Sena and Bagh Sena, among others.
