Two civil society organisations from Assam have drawn a parallel between Assam and Ladakh’s demands for constitutional safeguards while appealing for support towards climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s call to observe a fast on Sunday “in solidarity with the people of Ladakh”.

The appeal to support Wangchuk’s call to fast was made by the Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, Assam, and Axom Nagarik Samaj during their joint meeting in Jorhat in connection with the upcoming general elections. The two organisations are backing the Opposition INDIA bloc and had on March 19 issued an appeal to the voters of Assam “to think and vote” to “save the Indian Constitution and democracy”.

Paresh Malakar, general secretary of the Axom Nagarik Samaj and the coordinator of the Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, Assam, said both Assam and Ladakh were assured of constitutional safeguards by the BJP-led Centre but both remained unfulfilled till date.

“Our stories, our struggles are similar. We continue to struggle to secure our future in our own ways. We don’t know what happened to promises made by Union home minister Amit Shah and Narendra Modi to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord to secure the state from the threat posed by illegal migrants,” he pointed out.

The Clause 6 committee was formed when Assam was witnessing sustained protests against the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

According to the Clause 6, “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.”

The 1985 Assam Accord was the culmination of the six-year-old anti-foreigner
movement.

Although the Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma-led committee, constituted by the MHA in July 2019, submitted its recommendations for implementation of the Clause 6 to the government in February 2020, there has been no movement on this front.

“We don’t know what happened to the report. Instead of implementing the Clause 6, the Centre has gone ahead with the CAA which poses a threat to our existence in the long run. The CAA is anti-Assam, unconstitutional,” Malakar said.

“Similarly, the Centre and the ruling BJP had promised in two election manifestos to safeguard Ladakh’s fragile ecology and its indigenous tribal culture under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. However, on March 4, after four years, the Centre declined to fulfil the promises made to Ladakh,” he added.