Rajnath Singh agrees to give extension to 100 foreigners’ tribunals functioning in Assam

GUWAHATI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has agreed to give extension to 100 foreigners’ tribunals functioning in Assam.

Assam chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday had meeting with Singh in New Delhi, where it was also agreed to consider establishing separate detention Centres to house the detenue declared by foreigners’ tribunals as foreigners, pending their deportation.

Chief Minister urged the Union Home Minister to give appropriate instructions to complete the Indo-Bangladesh border fencing, including the riverine areas and also install a new fencing with modern design. He also requested that fencing in the neighbouring states be also completed.

Union Home Minister agreed to re-examine the entire matter of fencing in a time-bound manner.

Implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord which pertains to constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the people of Assam was discussed.

Chief Minister suggested to set up a committee comprising eminent experts from legal, constitutional, sociological, historical and cultural backgrounds to give recommendations on how to effectively implement Clause 6 for constitutional safeguards of indigenous people of Assam.

Sonowal requested Rajnath Singh to hold tripartite talks at the political level with various organizations on their demand of according Scheduled Tribe status. These would include the leaders of the six ethnic communities demanding Scheduled tribe status. Union Home Minister agreed to hold talks early and said that the dates for the meetings would be communicated soon.