GUWAHATI, Oct 11: Leader of Opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly (ALA) Debabrata Saikia has moved Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami to hold a special session of the House for a detailed discussion on the follow-up of the 2015 ‘framework agreement’ signed between NSCN-IM and the Government of India.

In a statement issued to the press on Wednesday by the Leader of Opposition’s private secretary Makhan Baruah the MLA let the media know this. “Media reports say that the Government of India is seeking opinions from the State governments of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh now on the framework agreement signed in 2015. The framework agreement signed in 2015 has not been made public as yet. All are in dark on the contents of the agreement. While signing the agreement with the NSCN-IM, the Centre didn’t let Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh on the contents of the agreement. The three north-eastern States are in dark on the framework agreement and its various clauses,” the private secretary quoted Saikia as saying.

Baruah further said: “The Leader of Opposition did send a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to make public various clauses of the Government of India-NSCN-IM framework agreement, but to no avail from the other end. Saikia says with certainty that the NSCN-IM’s demand for inclusion of all Naga-inhabited areas in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh in the proposed ‘greater Nagalim’ has been included in the framework agreement. Areas in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao and Nagaon are being inhabited by Nagas. If all these areas are included in the proposed Nagalim the geographical boundary of Assam will shrink, leading to huge loss to the State. Taking that into account, Saikia feels that Dispur should let the Centre know its opinion on the issue only after letting the people of the State know it first. It is also necessary for the legislators of the State House to have a detailed discussion on various clauses of the framework agreement – if any of the clauses go against the interest of Assam. Taking all these into account, Saikia has raised the demand for a special session of the Assam Assembly to discuss the agreement thoroughly.”

Posted on The Sentinel Assam