The Hindu : National : Protest against Manmohan's visit to Assam called off

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Saturday, Nov 20, 2004

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Protest against Manmohan's visit to Assam called off

By Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI, NOV 19: The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) today called off its agitation to protest the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit to the State on November 21-22 to flag off the India-ASEAN car rally.

The move comes following a written assurance from the State Government to hold a tripartite-level talks between the student body, the State Government and the Prime Minister to review the status of implementation of the Assam Accord.

The AASU also received a fax from the Prime Minister's Office stating that the Centre was committed to implementing the accord in letter and spirit.

The AASU had said that the accord had not been reviewed since the time of the former Prime Minister, V.P. Singh. The student body had signed the accord in 1985, ending its six-year, anti-foreigners' movement launched in 1979.

The protest was to be staged against the Union Cabinet's decision to retain the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983.

Speaking to presspersons here today, the AASU adviser, Samujjal Bhattcharyya, the president, Prabin Boro, and the general secretary, Amiyo Kumar Bhuyan, said the decision was taken after a high-level meeting with the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi.

The meeting also decided that the tripartite talks be preceded by discussions at the Chief Minister level to review the progress of implementation of the accord. However, the AASU leaders threatened to take up agitation if the talks failed to yield any tangible results.

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