GUWAHATI: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday asked the Assam government to make public the Biplab Sarma-led committee’s report on the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord even as the party said it cannot rely on a “leaked copy”.
“The report is not officially made public. It is not on the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Assam government. So, you have to tell people what is officially in this report,” TMC’s Rajya Sabha member Sushmita Dev said at a press conference in Guwahati.
The Centre constituted the high-powered committee in 2019 to seek its recommendations for the implementation of Assam Accord’s Clause 6. The committee submitted its report in 2020.
Clause 6 of the accord says, “Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.”
Dev said, “The chief minister stated 57 of the 67 recommendations of the committee will be implemented by the state government. Which are these 57 recommendations? Make the report public. Only AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) has a copy…Where is the official signed copy of the report? We cannot rely on a leaked copy. And if the central government has approved it, then show us that order that it is approved.”
The TMC leader said there was nothing in the public domain to say the report of the committee had been accepted by government of India, adding that there is no official release of that.
“Is it confidential? Why should it be confidential? You have to tell the people of Assam what you are implementing,” she further said.
The Congress dubbed the state government’s move as “political jumla”. The party said the state government can only send proposals and the matter is in central government’s jurisdiction.
