APCC Slams Assam Cabinet’s Arms Licence Move for Indigenous Citizens

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has strongly condemned the decision of the state cabinet to provide ‘arms licences to the original inhabitants and indigenous Indian citizens in vulnerable and remote areas’.

In his X handle, APCC president Gaurav Gogoi said, “I strongly condemn Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s decision to distribute arms to civilians in border regions of the state. People of Assam deserve jobs, affordable healthcare, and quality education, not guns.” Gogoi said, “Instead of strengthening police and border forces, the government is intent on distributing arms amongst BJP-RSS sympathisers and local criminal syndicates. This will lead to gang violence and crimes based on personal vendettas. Local businessmen and traders are bound to be harassed. This is not governance. This is a dangerous step backwards towards lawlessness and jungle raj.”

Gogoi further said, “This decision reflects not public concern but electoral concerns. The Chief Minister must reverse it immediately and focus on restoring public trust through responsible leadership.”

Meanwhile, Debabrata Saikia, Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, also issued a strong condemnation of, as he said, the Assam government’s recent decision to adopt a lenient approach to arms licensing for specific groups, asserting that this unconstitutional action jeopardises Assam’s hard-won peace. In a scathing critique, Saikia highlighted how the policy violates fundamental rights and could reignite tensions in the state. In letters addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, Saikia has sought immediate central intervention to revoke what he terms a “dangerous and divisive policy”. The opposition leader emphasised that Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees all citizens equal protection under law, making community-specific arms distribution fundamentally discriminatory. He expressed grave concern that this decision comes when Assam has finally achieved relative stability after decades of insurgency and conflict. Saikia particularly criticised the government’s apparent admission of institutional failure through this move. The letter cites alarming precedents from other conflict zones, where similar policies led to the proliferation of illegal arms and escalation of petty disputes into fatal encounters.

Saikia also warned about the policy’s dangerous demographic implications, noting that selective armament could deepen existing social divides and potentially create new armed factions. He reminded that Assam’s fragile peace was built through years of dialogue and confidence-building measures, not through arming communities against each other.

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