GUWAHATI, Jan 25 � The North East Students� Organisation (NESO) and the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) today demanded special constitutional status for the NE region and constitutional safeguard for the indigenous peoples of Assam under the provisions of the Assam Accord.
NESO president Samuel Jewra, its general secretary Sinam Prakash and advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya said in a statement that there is a need to amend the Constitution of the country to meet the aspirations of the NE peoples.
The rights of the NE people over their land and natural resources should be granted, while the region should be granted a special constitutional status by amending the country�s Constitution, they said.
Moreover, they said there is a need to restructure the polity of the country on the basis of federalism. The wishes of the members of the Constituent Assembly to hand over all the residuary powers to the States, leaving the main powers like defence, foreign affairs, communication and money with the Centre, have not been reflected in the Constitution of the country, they said.
The NE region is rich in minerals and other resources. But the region is economically backward. In many States of the region, people have lost their rights over land. This is why the people of the region should be grated their rights over the land of their own States. Moreover, the region also needs a special constitutional status.
Meanwhile, AASU president and general secretary respectively Shankar Prasad Roy and Tapan Kumar Gogoi said constitutional safeguard should be granted to the indigenous peoples of the State for keeping intact their supremacy in Assam. This has made amendment to the country�s Constitution obligatory. The present constitutional provisions have failed to protect the indigenous peoples of the State from the inroads of the illegal Bangladeshi migrants, they said.
