GUWAHATI, Oct 20 - Assam Government will soon entrust a retired Judge of the Supreme Court with the responsibility of thoroughly examining the legal aspects of the recommendations of the committee on implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, said Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Clause 6 of the Accord envisages constitutional protection to �Assamese people�.
The committee, headed by Justice (Retd) Biplab Sarma, formed by the Government of India, to suggest measures for implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, submitted its report in February and the Union Home Minister asked the Chief Minister to get the recommendations examined by legal experts.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, the Chief Minister said that the Government would soon issue a formal notification entrusting a retired Judge of the Supreme Court to examine the report. He said several members of the committee had also expressed the view that the recommendations should be examined by a retired Supreme Court Judge.
Commenting on the allegations that the Government failed to implement the report of the committee, Sonowal said for 35 years since the signing of the Assam Accord, no Government took effective steps for implementing the vital clause of the Accord.
�But the BJP-led Government took the initiative for providing constitutional protection of the indigenous people of the State and there should not be any reason for doubting the Government in this regard.� He also asserted that the Governments at the Centre and in the State are committed to implement the Assam Accord.
The Chief Minister also said that the Government is not satisfied with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as it included names of foreigners. The Government is committed to give an error free NRC to the people of Assam and that is why it has filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking 20 per cent re-verification of the NRC in the districts bordering Bangladesh and 10 per cent in the rest of the State.
Sonowal claimed that for the first time since the signing of the Assam Accord, the Centre took steps to improve vigil along the riverine international border. He pointed out that as construction of physical barriers on the river Brahmaputra is not possible, the riverine international border was always considered most vulnerable. But Government of India decided to use technology developed by Israel and used censors to guard the riverine international border.
It may be mentioned here that the Government also decided to start construction of the martyrs� memorial in memory of the martyrs of Assam agitation soon, while, a four series book will also be published for proper documentation of all the events of the movement.
