Last week, the Assam government informed the Assembly that nearly 1.44 lakh foreigners had been identified in the state until January 31 this year based on the 1985 Assam Accord, and around 30,000 of them had been deported. It added that definitions of phrases mentioned in the Accord such as ‘Axomiya janagan’ (Assamese people), ‘khilonjia’ (indigenous) and ‘adi basinda’ (original inhabitants) were yet to be determined.
Who is a foreigner under the Accord?
The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 by the Centre and the Assam government with the All Assam Student Union and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad, which had spearheaded the 1979-85 Assam Movement against migration from Bangladesh. It set March 24, 1971 as a cut-off. Anyone who had come to Assam before midnight on that date would be an Indian citizen, while those who had come after would be dealt with as foreigners. The same cut-off was used in updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Why is it important to define ‘Assamese people’?
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord promises “constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. Clause 6 is important because many felt the 1971 cut-off was inadequate to address the impact of migration. It is seen as a provision that would guarantee certain benefits to the Assamese people to compensate for the 1971 cut-off.
Why is the definition difficult?
Dr Kaustubh Deka, from the political science faculty at Dibrugarh University, pointed out that ‘Axomiya’ or ‘Assamese’ is a contested term and there is no specific universal definition. Many feel people whose ancestors were living in Assam before 1826, when Assam was merged with British India, are Axomiya. Others feel ‘Axomiya’ include residents of Assam before 1951, when the first NRC was drawn up. Still others feel anyone speaking any indigenous language is an Axomiya, and many are in favour of extending the definition to include Bengali-speaking residents of Barak Valley, where Bengali is the local language.
Have any definitions been proposed?
Over the years, several committees have been set up to determine a definition, but none adopted. In 2015, then Assembly Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi prepared a report proposing that ‘Assamese people’ mean anyone belonging to the state, speaking the Assamese language or any tribal dialect of the state, or local language of the region in the case of Cachar district and adjoining areas (Barak Valley), and families living in Assam since 1951 or earlier.
Another key committee came in 2019, when Assam was rocked by protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The government set up the committee to quell the protests. According to its recommendations in 2020, all citizens who are part of the Assamese community, any person of indigenous tribal community of Assam, any other indigenous community of Assam, all other citizens of India residing in the territory or Assam on or before January 1, 1951 and descendants of these categories would be considered Assamese. No movement has happened on this.
According to this committee’s recommendations, all citizens who are part of the Assamese community, any person of indigenous tribal community of Assam, any other indigenous community of Assam, all other citizens of India residing in the territory or Assam on or before January 1, 1951 and descendants of these categories would be considered Assamese. In essence, this definition includes not only the indigenous people but also all other Indian citizens, irrespective of mother tongue, as long as their ancestor
What are the other terms for which no definition has been finalised?
Khilonjia refers to indigenous communities. The question is who would be considered indigenous; some are in favour of communities living in Assam before the 1826 annexation with British India. Adi basinda, also undefined, is generally used to describe tribes who have lived for several generations in Assam.s were staying in Assam before 1951.
Written by Debraj Deb
Source: Indian Express, 22/03/22
