MP Bezbaruah refuses to head panel on Assam Accord Clause

GUWAHATI: Former bureaucrat MP Bezbaruah has refused to be a part of the nine-member panel that was set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs to suggest ways to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. He has written to the Home Ministry stating that as most public representatives did not want to be on the committee, the panel has become non-functional.

“So my position in the committee also becomes redundant, indirectly implying that I am not there.” Four of nine members have expressed their reservations on being on the panel.

Clause 6 states that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards shall be provided to “protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.” The nine-member panel was formed to look into reservation for Assamese people in the assembly and other local bodies.