The Indian government will provide licenses for firearms to citizens in Assam belonging to indigenous communities living in vulnerable and border zones in India’s Northeast.
The decision is unprecedented and likely to have far-reaching implications for the future.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the licenses would be issued to citizens, especially those in Muslim-majority districts bordering Bangladesh, to instill a sense of security in them.
Explaining the rationale of the “important and sensitive decision,” Sarma pointed out that members belonging to indigenous communities were feeling insecure, especially in the wake of the targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh in recent months. Demands for gun licenses from people in some regions of Assam have grown over the past several years, he said. Sarma clarified that the objective of the policy was not to militarize the indigenous population in the state.
Four districts in Assam — Cachar, Karimganj, South Salmara, and Dhubri — share a 263-km-long border with Bangladesh. Of Assam’s 27 districts, as many as nine districts have a Muslim majority population, as per the 2011 census; the total number of districts in Assam is now 35.
Obtaining a license for firearms is a long and cumbersome process in Assam that goes through several stages and verifications. Pistols, revolvers, single- and double-barreled 12-bore guns and some rifles can be purchased by those who are granted licenses. Under the existing law, an individual is permitted to get only three firearms.
The Assam government’s policy of issuing gun licenses will not be applicable in districts bordering the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland, owing to the border disputes that have claimed more than 200 lives over the past many decades.
This story was originally published in thediplomat.com. Read the full story here.
