Decision to give arms license to indigenous people taken after much thought Himanta

Guwahati, May 30 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday asserted that the decision to give arms license to the indigenous people in 'sensitive' areas was taken after much thought as it is the responsibility of the state government to provide security to them.
    The Constitution has given the right to life to these people too and also the right to possess arms, subject to certain rules and regulations, the chief minister said at a press conference here.
    "It is the responsibility of the state government to provide security to the indigenous people and so it has taken the decision to provide them with arms licenses in sensitive areas along the international border," he said.
    The state cabinet had taken a decision to this effect on Wednesday after reviewing the "demand" of the people living in these areas.
    He said that Assamese people living in some areas have been feeling insecure and they have been demanding arms licences for a long time.
    "If the previous governments had given the license in 1985 (after the Assam agitation), many indigenous people would not have sold their land and left their homes," the chief minister said.
    Sarma had mentioned that some of the districts in this category are Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Nagaon and South Salmara-Mankachar, naming some other localities like Rupahi, Dhing and Jania which are mostly dominated by the migrant Bengali Muslim community.
    Regarding opposition parties criticising the move, Sarma said that certain individuals and the Congress have always opposed the government's decisions and so "we cannot take it seriously".
    The Congress, Trinamool Congress and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) have criticised the state government's decision to adopt a 'lenient' arms licence policy, claiming it has been done to 'polarise' the public which will jeopardise the state's hard-won peace.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)