“Definition of ‘Assamese’ under Clause 6 needs to be made more inclusive”
GUWAHATI: The Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA) has expressed concern over reports alleging possible exclusion of “several thousands of indigenous people” from the final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be published this Saturday.
The concern comes in the wake of reports that several villages in the Boroland Territorial Areas District, Karbi Anglong and many other areas primarily inhabited by indigenous communities have been excluded while “the names of several thousands of doubtful foreigners have allegedly made it to the final list.”
An emergent meeting of CCTOA comprising members of indigenous organisations was held here on Thursday to discuss among others, issues related to the NRC, Terms of Reference under Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, implementation of Clause 10 of the Accord.
“It has been reported that thousands of doubtful foreigners have been included while several indigenous people have either not applied or may not find their names. If this is so, then we cannot expect an infallible, error-free NRC which we all want. However, we would appeal to all sections to be optimistic about corrective measures and maintain peace and harmony post publication of the NRC,” Aditya Khakhlari, chief coordinator, CCTOA, told reporters after the meeting.
The CCTOA further sought a change in the definition in the Terms of Reference under Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, for the implementation of which a high-level committee was recently constituted by the Centre.
“We want the definition of the “Assamese People” as mentioned in the main content of the Assam Accord and in the Terms of Reference (‘e’ and ‘f’) to be made more inclusive to embrace Assamese and all other indigenous communities of Assam to ensure constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards for all communities in the state. The identity, language, culture of the aboriginal tribes of Assam must be protected,” Khaklari, who is also the secretary general of All Assam Tribal Sangha, said.
“In this regard, we had submitted a memorandum to Satyendra Garg, the joint secretary (North East), Union ministry of home affairs on August 2. We now call upon the ministry to publish a fresh gazette notification to alter the terminology in the Terms of Reference without changing the main content to include all indigenous communities of Assam,” he said.
Khakhlary also demanded that a committee headed by a person belonging to the Scheduled Tribes category with 80 per cent members from the tribal communities, should be constituted for implementation of Clause 10 of the Assam Accord.
“The report of the HS Brahma-led committee for protection of land rights of the indigenous people of Assam needs to be made public. Many areas in the tribal belts have been encroached while many are yet to have land patta under Forest Dwellers Act. It is therefore imperative that a panel for Clause 10 implementation is constituted on the lines of Clause 6 implementation. Assam can be made secure only if areas inhabited by the aboriginal communities are protected,” he said.
Among other points discussed in the meeting include the need for a national university for Scheduled Tribes of North East and the support by CCTOA to the agitation against mega hydro power projects.
The meeting of CCTOA was attended among others by All Bodo Students Union president, Pramod Boro, All Rabha Students Union president, Ramen Singh Rabha besides representatives of several other indigenous organisations.