Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement.
Assam Accord
The Assam Accord was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement. It was signed in the presence of the then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi on 15 August 1985. The Citizenship Act was amended for the first time the following year, in 1986. It followed a six-year agitation that started in 1979. Led by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the protestors demanded the identification and deportation of all illegal foreigners – predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants. They feared that past and continuing large scale migration was overwhelming the native population, impacting their political rights, culture, language and land rights. The Assam Movement caused the estimated death of over 855 people. The movement ended with the signing of the Assam Accord.
Government of India
The Government of India is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territories. The government is led by the president of India who largely exercises the executive powers, and selects the prime minister of India and other ministers for aid and advice. Government has been formed by the National Democratic Alliance since 2014, as the dominant grouping in the Lok Sabha. The prime minister and their senior ministers belong to the Union Council of Ministers, its executive decision-making committee being the cabinet.
Assam Movement
The Assam Movement, also known as the Anti-Foreigners Agitation, was a popular uprising in Assam, India, from 1979 to 1985, that demanded the Government of India detect, disenfranchise and deport illegal aliens. Led by All Assam Students Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) the movement defined a six-year period of sustained civil disobedience campaigns, political instability and widespread ethnic violence. The movement ended in 1985 with the Assam Accord.