Assam To Provide Arms Licences To Indigenous People In 'Vulnerable' Areas

The Assam government will provide arms licences to indigenous people residing in "vulnerable and remote" areas and those along the border with Bangladesh for instilling a sense of security in them, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Sarma said the decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet that reviewed the "demand" of the people living in these areas. 

"Assam is a very different and sensitive state. The Assamese people living in some areas have been feeling insecure and they have been demanding arms licences for a long time," he said.

Indigenous people "face the threat of attacks from the Bangladeshi side and even in their own villages", he added. "We see instances where they live in fear even though efforts are on to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshis..."

The Chief Minister said the state government will be lenient in giving licences. The eligible people, he added, will have to be original inhabitants and must belong to the indigenous community living in vulnerable and remote areas of the state.

Mr Sarma said some of the districts in this category are Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Nagaon and South Salmara-Mankachar. "Our people are the minority in these places," he said.

He clarified that the government will not help those eligible buy arms but only provide them with the licence.