UpdateBot at 22:45, 30 March 2022

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{{Short description|1985 agreement between the Indian government and the Assam Movement}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
[[File:Assam movement symbol.svg|thumb|The Assam Accord agreed to protect Assamese cultural, economic and political rights. It was signed after six years of [[Assam Movement]].]]

The '''Assam Accord''' was a [[Memorandum of understanding|Memorandum of Settlement]] (MoS) signed between representatives of the [[Government of India]] and the leaders of the [[Assam Movement]].<ref name=peacemaker/> It was signed in the presence of the then-Prime Minister [[Rajiv Gandhi]] in [[New Delhi]] on 15 August 1985. Later, the Citizenship Act was amended for the first time the following year, in 1986.<ref name=peacemaker>{{Cite web|url=https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/IN_850815_Assam%20Accord.pdf|title=Assam Accord|publisher=United Nations Peace Accord Archives|year=1985}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060117130811/http://aasc.nic.in/Acts%20and%20Rules%20(GOA)/Implementation%20of%20Assam%20Accord%20Deptt/Assam%20Accord.pdf Text of Assam Accord], according to the Part II (A) The [[Assam Gazette]] 23 June 2015, pp 7</ref><ref>[http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/documents/papers/assam_accord_1985.htm#Assam_Accord Assam Accord] SATP.org Archives</ref> It followed a six-year [[Assam Movement|agitation]] that started in 1979. Led by the [[All Assam Students’ Union]] (AASU), the protestors demanded the identification and [[deportation]] of all [[Illegal immigration to India|illegal foreigners]] – predominantly [[Bangladeshis in India|Bangladeshi immigrants]]. They feared that past and continuing large scale migration was [[Nationalism|overwhelming the native population]], impacting their political rights, culture, language and land rights.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty|title=Assam: The Accord, The Discord|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F46nDwAAQBAJ |year=2019|publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-93-5305-622-3|pages=1–14, Chapter 2, 9 and 10 }}</ref> The Assam Movement caused the estimated death of over 855 people. The movement ended with the signing of the Assam Accord.<ref name="Pisharoty2019">{{cite book|author=Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty|title=Assam: The Accord, The Discord|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F46nDwAAQBAJ |year=2019|publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-93-5305-622-3|pages=1–7, Introduction chapter }}</ref>

The leaders of the Assam Movement agreed to accept all migrants who had entered into Assam prior to 1 January 1966.<ref name=peacemaker/> The Government of India acknowledged the political, social, cultural and economic concerns of the [[Assamese people]] and agreed to revise the electoral database based on that date.<ref name=peacemaker/> Further, the government agreed to identify and deport any and all refugees and migrants after March 25 1971.<ref name=peacemaker/> In 1971, millions of citizens of [[Bangladesh]] – then called [[East Pakistan]] – fled the abuses of [[Bangladesh Liberation War|a civil war]] and [[1971 Bangladesh genocide|associated genocide]] between East Pakistan and [[West Pakistan]] triggering a mass influx of refugees into [[Assam]], [[West Bengal]], [[Tripura]], various other nearby states of India as well as [[Myanmar]].<ref name="Saikia2011">{{cite book|author=Yasmin Saikia|title=Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh: Remembering 1971|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YdQaz1ddI-wC|year=2011|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-5038-5|pages=40–47}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Sarah Kenyon Lischer|title=Dangerous Sanctuaries: Refugee Camps, Civil War, and the Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VAXhCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT24 |year=2015|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-1-5017-0039-2|pages=24–25}}</ref>

According to the Assam Accord, the Government of India agreed to secure the international border against future infiltration by the "erection of physical barriers like walls, barbed wire fencing and other obstacles at appropriate places" and deploying a patrol by security forces on land and river routes all along the international [[Bangladesh-India border]].<ref name=peacemaker/> To aid this effort, the Government also agreed to build a road near the border for the patrol and quicker deployment of Indian security forces, as well as maintain a mandatory birth and death list of citizens.<ref name=peacemaker/> All open police charges against the participants and the leaders of the Assam Movement, prior to and on the date of signing the Accord, were also withdrawn and closed.<ref name=peacemaker/> The families of those who died during the Assam Movement were given monetary compensation. The Government also agreed to open an oil refinery, reopen paper mills and establish educational institutions in the state.<ref name=peacemaker/>

The accord brought an end to the Assam Movement and paved the way for the leaders of the agitation to form a political party and form a government in the state of [[Assam]] soon after. Though the accord brought an end to the agitation, some of the key clauses are yet to be implemented, which kept some of the issues festering.<ref>[http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=may1307/at01 AASU questions Govts’ sincerity on Accord] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928043632/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=may1307%2Fat01 |date=September 28, 2007 }}, The Assam Tribune, 13 May 2007.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/union-cabinet-clears-panel-to-promote-assams-cultural-identity/article25892099.ece|title=Union Cabinet clears panel to promote Assam's cultural identity|date=2019-01-02|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-01-03|others=Special Correspondent|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> According to Sanjib Baruah – a professor of Political Studies, the task of identifying foreigners became politically difficult, affected vote banks, and attracted accusations of religious or ethnic discrimination.<ref name="Baruah1999p160"/> [[Hiteswar Saikia]], a chief minister of Assam in early 1990s and senior Congress party leader, for example gave conflicting statements in his speeches.<ref name="Baruah1999p160"/> In the front of some crowds, he denied there were any foreigners; before other crowds, he said there were hundreds of thousands of illegal foreigners in Assam that need to be deported.<ref name="Baruah1999p160"/> In 1997, the state government completed a study and marked numerous names in its voter list with "d" meaning "disputed citizenship", with plans to block them from voting.<ref name="Baruah1999p160"/><ref name="BilginLing2017p56">{{cite book|author1=Pinar Bilgin|author2=L.H.M. Ling|title=Asia in International Relations: Unlearning Imperial Power Relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LjklDwAAQBAJ |year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-15379-5|pages=56–60}}</ref> Critics complained of disenfranchisement.<ref name="BilginLing2017p56"/> The High Court of the state ascertained that the "d" is based on suspicion, not documentary evidence. All residents – citizens and foreigners – were allowed to vote in subsequent Assam elections. The supporters of the Assam Movement stated that the government has failed to implement the Assam Accord.<ref name="Baruah1999p160">{{cite book|author=Sanjib Baruah|title=India Against Itself: Assam and the Politics of Nationality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8k-irMMTnywC&pg=PA160|year=1999|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=0-8122-3491-X|pages=160–168}}</ref>

==Signatories==
'''Representatives of Assam Movement'''
* [[Prafulla Kumar Mahanta]], President, [[All Assam Students Union]]
* [[Bhrigu Kumar Phukan]], General Secretary, All Assam Students Union
* [[Biraj Kumar Sarma]], General Secretary, All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad

'''Representatives of Governments of India and Assam'''
* [[R. D. Pradhan]], Home Secretary, [[Government of India]]
* P P Trivedi, Chief Secretary, [[Government of Assam]]

'''In the presence of'''
* [[Rajiv Gandhi]], [[Prime Minister of India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |title="Assam Accord" |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225190628/https://assamaccord.assam.gov.in/sites/default/files/swf_utility_folder/departments/assamaccord_medhassu_in_oid_3/portlet/level_1/files/The%20Assam%20Accord%20-%20English.pdf}}
{{refend}}

{{Assam}}
[[Category:1985 documents]]
[[Category:1985 in India]]
[[Category:August 1985 events in Asia]]
[[Category:1980s in Assam]]
[[Category:Politics of Assam]]
[[Category:Indian documents]]
[[Category:Rajiv Gandhi administration]]
[[Category:Asom Gana Parishad]]
[[Category:Memoranda]]

Assam Accord - Revision history

UpdateBot at 22:45, 30 March 2022