Clause 6 panel's recommendations far from legal reality, cannot be implemented: Himanta

Senior Assam minister HimantaBiswa Sarma on Wednesday said the government cannot implementthe recommendations of the central panel on Clause 6 of theAssam Accord as those are ''far from legal reality''.

This is the first time someone from the governmentspoke about recommendations of the report, which was submittedto Assam Chief Minister Sarbanando Sonowal on February 25 lastyear for handing it over to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

''The recommendations given by the committee are farfrom the reality of this land.... How can we implement them?said Sarma, also the convenor of the North East DemocraticAlliance (NEDA), the regional arm of the NDA.

The recommendations go against many Supreme Courtjudgements, he said at the launch of his book, ''Eta SaponarPom Khedi (Chasing a dream)'', comprising 25 of his speeches.

The apex court had ordered that reservations cannotexceed 50 per cent, but the panel's report suggested more thanthat, he added.

''Why did the committee not consider Supreme Courtjudgements? I think those were not recommendations, but their(panel's) expectations only,'' the BJP leader said.

On February 11, Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi said inthe assembly that the state is still examining the Clause-6report, prepared by Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma-led High-LevelCommittee (HLC) of the Union Home Ministry, and has notforwarded it to the Union government for consideration.

As per the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord,Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, asmay be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve andpromote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritageof the Assamese people.

The bone of contention since the signing of the Accordon August 15, 1985 has been the definition of Assamese people,which the committee tried to fix as the tribal, indigenous andall other Indian citizens residing within the territory ofAssam as per the First Schedule of the Constitution on orbefore January 1, 1951 along with their descendants.

Talking about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Sarmasaid the rules of the law, when framed, will have ''strikingbalance'' between advantages given to Hindu immigrants andinterests of the Assamese people.

''My job is to strike a balance between Hindus andAssamese. I take pride as a Hindu. If you are a Hindu, then wewill accommodate everyone who is not a threat,'' he added.

He said that people believing in other faiths can alsobe a Hindu if they consider 'Bharat' as their motherland.

''If there is a clash between Bharat and Gita, and youstand with Bharat, then you are a Hindu,'' he said.

On AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, who has always been atarget of Sarma, the senior BJP leader said that the Lok SabhaMP from Dhubri is alleged to have received funds from groupshaving links with Islamic terror groups.

Ajmal heads All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF)which has 14 MLAs mostly from the minority Muslims dominatedareas of Assam at present. The party has teamed up withCongress and four other political parties to form a GrandAlliance against the ruling BJP in the assembly electionlikely to be held in March-April.

Referring to the philanthropic activities on healthand education sector by the Ajmal Foundation' set up by theAIUDF chief, Sarma said, ''Do you want an IAS officer who iseducated on funds from Islamic terror groups?'' On his repeated usage of the phrase 'clash ofcivilisation' while referring to Ajmal, the minister said thatit is just ''a political word and not related to any person''.

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