While the central and state governments are hoping that the committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord will give its recommendation to help them counter the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the panel faces the herculean task of defining ' Assamese ' people.In the past there have been may attempts to define 'Assamese' but no consensus have been reached yet. The definitions which were forwarded were criticised and called 'too wide' or 'too narrow'. Clause 6 stipulates constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal recently held a meeting with the 6 panel and requested it to submit its recommendation within January 15. However, to operationalise the recommendations, the definition of Assamese is a must. A member of the panel on condition of anonymity told ET, “We are trying to come up with a holistic definition of who is an Assamese.”Three years ago there was heightened debate on Clause 6 when former state Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi after consultation with 50 organisations from different ethnic groups gave a definition of Assamese. But the definition was opposed by than Congress and All India United Democratic Front in the state assembly.In 2015, former chief minister Bhumidhar Barman told the state assembly Clause 6 of the Accord could not be implemented because of the delay in finalising the definition of 'Assamese people'. Assam Sahitya Sabha’s former president Dhrubajyoti Bora said, “The Assam Sahitya Sabha believes that all the Indian citizens who live in Assam and who speak Assamese language as mother tongue or either their second or third language, irrespective of the places of their origin, ethnicity, caste or religion, are inseparable part of the greater Assamese society and hence, they are Assamese.”DN Chakravartty, former president of Kamrup Mahanagar Zila Sahitya Sabha, however, decried Sabha’s definition and termed it “preposterous, ludicrous and dangerous” as “it would would throw the indigenous communities into the wilderness and frustrate the very basis of the Assam Accord”.Chakravartty said castes such as Kalitas, Keots and Brahmins, ethnic groups such as Ahoms, Chutiyas, Koch, Morans and tribes such as Bodos, Rabhas, Sonowals, and Misings should be categorised in the list of Assamese community. The committee headed by Justice B K Sharma, former judge of Gauhati High Court, had held its first meeting on July 24.