Supreme Court verdict ‘historic’, says student body

Guwahati: The All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu), a signatory of the historic Assam Accord and the organization that spearheaded a six-year-long agitation against illegal immigrants in Assam from 1979 to 1985, has welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment upholding the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act by a 4:1 majority. This section specifically deals with granting Indian citizenship to immigrants covered by the Assam Accord.
Samujjal Bhattacharjya, the chief adviser of Aasu, described the judgment as “historic,” stating that the Supreme Court has effectively endorsed the Assam Accord, which mandates the detection and deportation of all individuals who entered Assam illegally. Section 6A was incorporated into the Citizenship Act as a special provision to address the citizenship status of people covered under the 1985 Assam Accord.
Bhattacharjya emphasized, “We wholeheartedly welcome the SC verdict. It is a historic verdict. It has established that the Assam agitation was undertaken with genuine reasons and all provisions of the Assam Accord are now legally validated by the apex court.” He further stressed that the central and Assam governments now bear the responsibility of fully implementing the remaining provisions of the four-decade-old Assam Accord with utmost sincerity.
Utpal Sarma, the president of Aasu, issued a press statement saying, “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.”
Sarma also highlighted that the judgment is a victory for Aasu, All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad, its partner groups, and all other organizations working in the interest of the state.