New Delhi: In a first such decisive step taken by a women’s forum in Assam, an apolitical collective, Nari Nagarik Manch, has resolved to launch a sustained campaign against the Himanta Biswa Sarma government’s decision to issue arms licences to “indigenous people living inside sensitive areas” of the north-eastern state, stating that the government’s action would “undo decades of peace-building” in the north-eastern state.
While Assam had seen a protracted period of militancy leading to loss of many innocent lives, the border state has been relatively peaceful since 2009-10 with no major acts of violence reported. The women’s collective expressed concern that after what was witnessed in neighbouring Manipur due to arms reaching the non-state actors, it would be dangerous to issue arms licence to citizens in Assam as part of a state policy in the name of their self-protection.
‘Move will undo decades of peace-building and escalate tensions in the state’
It warned that the move “will undo decades of peace-building and escalate tensions in the state.”
In a meeting held in Guwahati this August 8, the Manch resolved to submit a memorandum to chief minister Sarma to “strongly urge” to “immediately revoke” his government’s decision to arm citizens besides writing to the Prime Minister and the President seeking their intervention on the matter.
The meeting of the Manch, attended by about 30 prominent women from a cross-section of Assamese society, also decided to file a public interest litigation (PIL) if needed to curtail the government’s move.
This past May, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of the state had announced that it would issue guns licences from this August 1 to only “indigenous” residents. Sarma has been justifying the move by claiming that “indigenous” people residing in “vulnerable remote areas” of five districts of the state were feeling “insecure” and therefore, his government would be “lenient in giving licences to eligible people” in those areas.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
