ASS announces Delhi declaration

New Delhi, Mar 15 (UNI) The Assam Sahitya Sabha (ASS) today announced a ten point Delhi declaration to tackle the sensitive issues including that of foreigners, infiltration, terrorism, flood and soil erosion, after the two-day marathon meet on the challenges faced by the state.

Announcing the Declaration, ASS president Kanak Sen Dekha told newspersons here that to bring peace and normalcy in the state, the Centre should immediately update the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) within a stipulated time frame.

He said most stringent measures must be taken to prevent further infiltration.

The message must go as ''thus far and no further.'' he said, adding while doing so the priorities must be given to complete the pending work of updating the NRC.

''Photo identity cards should be given to all those who are found to be residing in Assam today,'' Mr Dekha said.

Mr Dekha, however, made it clear that the photo identity card will not necessarily grant any person the citizenship status for allowing the name to be entered into the NRC.

He said at the time of issuing the photo identity cards the citizenship column would be kept vacant. It should be filled only after the completion of the NRC.

He said by doing this the entry of any fresh illegal migrant to Assam from across the border will be checked.

All the fresh migrant workers from across the border should be kept in isolated camps, he said.

All rivercraft, motorised or otherwise, must be registered with the River Police Organisation and there must be dusk to dawn curfew in all the riverine routes, he said.

Mr Dekha said the Indo-Bangladesh border must be fully sealed immediately and all work must be completed on or before December 31, this year.

He said there must be firm land policy and all encroachment on Government, forest land and land used for religious worship and institutions must be ruthlessly evicted.

He said the engagement of alien labours coming without valid travel documents must be totally banned and anybody found to have engaged such labours should be treated under the relevant laws as shelters of illegal infiltrators.

Mr Dekha said the Sabha is of firm conviction that in order to put an end to the spreading terrorism in the Northeast, the Central Government must re-open its negotiations with the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) without any pre-condition and the ULFA also, in response to the popular demand of Assam, should come forward for a meaningful negotiation with the Centre and place their agenda before the people.

''It is worth mentioning that peaceful negotiation cannot be carried on with guns in hand,'' Mr Dekha said.

He said there must be monitoring cell to ensure/oversee the implementation of the Supreme Court's order delivered while invalidating the Illegal Migrant Determination Treaty (IMDT) Act.

He said in near future, further proposals would be made to hold a convention of the representatives of all the ethnic groups irrespective of caste, creed, religion and language for sorting out an economic agenda for rapid economic development and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also an MP from Assam should be involved in this.

Immediate and effective measures should be taken to arrest the havocs caused by perennial flood, erosion, rendering lakhs of families homeless and bankrupt every year, Mr Dekha said.

Besides, priority must should be given to the protection of Majuli, Rahmaria, Palashbari, South Salmara and Bahari Satra near Borpeta and other erosion affected areas, he added.

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