GUWAHATI, Jan 3 - Criticising the Union government for suddenly remembering the Assam Accord after four and a half years of its rule, the AASU today said the BJP government�s tactics ahead of the general elections won�t find any takers in the State.
The AASU said that while the people of Assam must get the Constitutional safeguards under Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, at the same time, it cannot allow violation of Clause 5 of the Accord by accepting illegal foreigners as citizens of India.
�While on one hand the Joint Parliamentary Committee supported the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, on the other, the Centre approved setting up of a high-level committee for implementation of Clause 6. It�s nothing but a trick to hoodwink the people of Assam,� AASU chief advisor Dr Samujjal Bhattacharyya told the media here.
�Assam has already taken the burden of migrants till 1971 and we are not ready to accept any more migrants. The government cannot impose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on us,� he said.
Referring to a tripartite subcommittee headed by the then joint secretary of the Union Home Ministry GK Pillai, the student body said implementation of Clause 6 was discussed with the subcommittee during several rounds of discussion.
�We had even discussed the quantum of reservation in all local bodies and the Legislative Assembly. The Union Cabinet�s decision has not proposed anything new for the people of the State,� said AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath.
�To speak the truth, the Union government does not have sufficient time to propose a Constitutional amendment to implement Clause 6. The Union government should not insult the Assam movement by adopting such cheap tactics,� he added.
Bhattacharyya added, �The statement issued by the Union government speaks about the quantum of reservation in employment under the Assam government. It goes without saying that jobs under the Assam government are for the people of Assam. The Centre should propose reservation for Assamese people in Central government jobs.�
The AASU also asked the government to make public the structure, mandate and rules of the high-level committee. �Most of the indigenous organisations, ethnic literary bodies and 28 groups representing different ethnic groups have accepted the definition of �indigenous Assamese� and �indigenous tribes� of Assam. During an initiative by the then Assembly Speaker Pranab Gogoi, a consensus was reached on the issue, but the political parties did not accept it due to their narrow political interests. Now the government must not delay the Constitutional safeguards on the plea of absence of an acceptable definition of Assamese,� the AASU leaders added.