Dear reader,
After nearly a year, the government has finally made an official statement about Assam’s Clause 6 report.
Last week, at his book launch in Guwahati, BJP minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, said that the recommendations of the report were not congruent with reality, and hence cannot be implemented.
For the uninitiated, the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord gives special protection to the “Assamese” people – a long-standing demand in a state rife with anxieties about being overridden by the “illegal immigrant”.
Spurred on by a wave of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in December 2019, the BJP government promised a speedy implementation of the report, appointing a committee to make recommendations. Since then, much like the NRC exercise, the report to has been hanging in limbo.
Election watch
Continuing its spree of developmental and infrastructural projects, the BJP government on Wednesday launched several initiatives in Assam, including the foundation stone for the longest river bridge in India — from Dhuri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya.
With the elections just a month away, the party seems to be focused on ramping up its developmental projects. In fact, the Prime Minister is all set to visit Assam on February 22, his third visit in a month.
On the other hand, the Congress is playing up fears regarding the CAA. Last week, the party, whose campaign is called “Save Assam”, promised to build a martyrs’ memorial for those who died during the protests.
While BJP thinks the CAA is hardly an issue, minister Himanta Biswa Sarma referred to MP Badaruddin Ajmal as an “enemy” of the state. Ajmal’s AIUDF, which has tied up with the Congress for the upcoming state elections, enjoys a large support base amongst the state’s Bengali-origin Muslim community, derogatorily called “Miyas”. Ajmal, on the other hand, accused the BJP of employing a “dirty formula to divide”.
From Tripura
Three months ahead of the election to the autonomous council, royal scion and former Congress leader Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma’s newly-minted The Indigenous People’s Regional Alliance (TIPRA) announced a merger with two tribal outfits – Tipraland State Party and Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) Tipraha. Interestingly, the IPFT, is an allly of the ruling Biplab Deb-led BJP governement. With the merger, his front is now the single-largest tribal affiliate in the state. Read here
What was intended to be a joke by the Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb (he said that the BJP has plans of expanding to Sri Lanka and Nepal), has been taken very seriously by some. Last week, the Nepal government lodged an objection to the comment made by Deb. Read here.
Finally…
The most beautiful duck visited in Assam last week.
Read about the spectacular Mandarin duck, and how it created a flutter in a wetland in Upper Assam.
And don't forget to read how Shillong Lajong, a football pipeline from Meghalaya feeds top Indian clubs,
Until next week,
Tora Agarwala
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