Assam Accord: AASU Welcomes SC Verdict on Citizenship Act as Historic Victory
GUWAHATI: The All Assam Students Union (AASU), one of the signatory of the Assam Accord of 1985, along with most of the political parties on Thursday welcomed the order of the apex court on Section 6A of Citizenship Act and said the verdict re-established the “rationality” of the historic agreement.
Hours after the apex court pronounced its judgment, AASU said it is the victory of the struggling people of Assam who have stood selflessly in favour of the Assam Accord for the past four decades.
“This verdict re-established the rationality of the Assam movement and the Assam Accord. We pay tribute to the martyrs on this historic occasion. We demand again that every clause of the Assam Accord be fully implemented,” AASU said in a statement.
The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 after a six-year-long violent anti-foreigner movement. The pact stated, among other clauses, that names of all foreigners coming to Assam on or after March 25, 1971, would be detected and deleted from electoral rolls with steps taken to deport them.
“The SC judgment is a victory of AASU, All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad and its partner groups, and all other organisations working for the interest of the state,” it added.
Along with AASU, All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad was the other signatory of the Assam Accord. The third signatory of the historic pact was the central government.
Meanwhile, the All India United Democratic Front said that the order has once again strengthened their belief in the judiciary. The AIUDF appealed to the government to publish the National Register of Citizens without further delay as it was prepared on the basis of the provision of the Assam Accord that was upheld by the apex court also.