Guwahati, March 11: The Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) has rejected the definition of Assamese people suggested by the Asam Sahitya Sabha.

The BSS categorically told Speaker Pranab Gogoi that it would never accept the definition of Assamese people as offered by the Asam Sahitya Sabha even if the Assembly accepts it.

The Asam Sahitya Sabha had recently adopted a resolution to consider all those people as Assamese who, irrespective of community, language, religion and place of origin, accept Assamese as their mother tongue or either their second or third language. The Sabha hoped that their stand would initiate broad, inclusive and modern thoughts in this regard.

A nine-member BSS delegation, led by its president Kameswar Brahma, had attended a meeting convened by the Speaker yesterday on providing constitutional safeguard for the Assamese people, as mentioned in the Assam Accord. Representatives of some other Bodo organisations and a few Bodo MLAs were also present.

BSS general secretary said accepting the Sabha's definition would mean that the state would have to give safeguards to persons from countries like Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan who are willing to accept Assamese as their first, second or third language.

The definition is required to provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the Assamese people under Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.

The issue caused a controversy after Assam Accord implementation minister Bhumidhar Barman recently told the Assembly that the state government had not yet been able to finalise the definition of Assamese people.

The Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, an organisation, criticised the Assam government for its comment and said the indigenous people residing in the state whose mother tongue is Assamese and those indigenous people who have their own local dialects and community-wise languages as their mother tongues but use Assamese as a lingua franca (link language) to communicate between them, could be dubbed "Assamese".

The Mahasangha said the direct descendants of people belonging to various ethnic groups, communities and tribes who were residing within the geographical territory of then Assam on the day (February 24, 1826) the British annexed Assam through Yandabo treaty are indigenous people.

The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) threatened to launch a statewide agitation in protest against the alleged conspiracy of the Tarun Gogoi government to create confusion about the definition of Assamese people.

The BSS expressed concern on non-implementation of the Assam Accord fully even 30 years after it was signed.

The BSS has been suggesting that the word "Assamese" in Clause 6 of the Assam Accord be replaced by the phrase "indigenous people of Assam" to protect the identities of indigenous people. Sources in the Sabha said the suggestion was given to the Assam government long back but because of the latter's unwillingness to accept it, the issue continues to remain unsolved.