New Delhi: Amid parts of Assam on the boil over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said in the Rajya Sabha that a panel under Clause 6 of the Assam Accord would address all the concerns of the local people related to their linguistic, cultural and social identity.
“I want to assure all the original residents of Assam through this House that the NDA government will attend to all their concerns. The Committee constituted under Clause 6 will address the concerns,” Shah said while introducing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Upper House.
In his introductory statement, Shah said the committee under Clause 6 could not be constituted until Narendra Modi government came to power. “No one bothered or worried for 35 years,” the minister said.
He said that when Assam Accord was signed by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi the movement in the state was stopped and people celebrated and burst crackers but the Committee was never formed.
“I want to put forward a bitter fact today. In 1985, the then Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi signed the Assam Accord. As per the Accord, a committee was to be set up to ensure the social, cultural and linguistic identity would be protected and preserved,” he noted lamenting non-action on the agreement.
The minister said that the time had now come to find solutions to the problems of the Assamese people. He also urged the Committee constituted under Clause 6 to send their report to the central government. (PTI)
