Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma led cabinet approved a controversial scheme to grant arms licenses to indigenous people in “vulnerable and remote” areas, particularly in Muslim-majority districts like Dhubri, Nagaon, Morigaon, Barpeta, South Salmara, and Goalpara. The policy, officially titled the ‘Special Scheme for Grant of Arms Licenses to Original Inhabitants and Indigenous Indian Citizens’, will targets areas where indigenous communities are minorities, especially near the Bangladesh border. CM Sarma elaborated that the initiative will be to protect the ‘jati, mati aru bheti’ (identity, land, and the homeland) addressing the long standing demands from indigenous groups in the state since the Assam agitation of 1980s.
The scheme, according to the CM, is a result of attacks on Hindus, and Assam’s ongoing deportation of suspected illegal immigrants. Sarma clarified that the policy will not apply to Assam’s inter-state borders with Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, emphasizing that these areas are not viewed as national security threats. The scheme requires applicants to have no criminal background and is framed as a measure to empower indigenous communities against ‘unlawful threats’ from within or across the border.
Opposition leaders have labelled the policy as divisive and poorly defined. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and others believe that it undermines the state’s security authority, implying that the Border Security Force and Assam Police are inadequate. The general consensus being that the arms license scheme could deepen communal divisions and challenge the state’s fragile social fabric. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has slammed the policy stating that it targets Muslims, claiming that the removal of illegal immigrants is a front to harrass the entire community.
