MP Bezbaruah, who was appointed as the head of a Centre-nominated committee to assess the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, has declined to be a part of it, leaving the nine-member body in the lurch.
Bezbaruah is the fifth member to leave the committee. He has written to the Union Home Ministry in this regard.
The development comes close on the heels of four members — eminent litterateurs Nagen Saikia and Rong Bong Terang along with educationist Mukunda Rajbongshi and the nominee of the influential All Assam Students Union — deciding not to be a part of the committee.
The committee was formed on January 6 to assess the quantum of seats to be reserved in the Assam Assembly and in the local bodies of the state for Assamese, besides providing other safeguards.
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord states “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”.
“I have conveyed to the Home Ministry that it is untenable for me to continue in the committee when the representatives of the civil society refused to be a part of the committee. Being the head of a committee, without civil society members, does not make any sense,” Bezbaruah told PTI in New Delhi.
