Congress leaders in Assam on Thursday came down heavily on Wednesday’s cabinet decision to issue arms licences to the state’s indigenous and original inhabitants living in vulnerable and remote and border areas, stating “the people of the state need jobs, not guns”.
Outgoing Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Kumar Borah, before leaving for Delhi, said the move reflected the “inadequacy” of the state government to protect its citizens while urging chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to revoke the decision in the greater interests of the state.
Borah will be attending a meeting in Delhi convened by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on the transition in the party’s Assam unit and 2026 Assembly polls.
“The cabinet’s decision reflects the failure of the state government in providing security to its people, reflects the inadequacy of the law and order situation in the state,” Borah told The Telegraph.
This move, Borah said, will only promote “gun culture” and see the return to the troubling days of the 80s and 90s.
“We have to look at America to understand the pitfall of gun culture where students use guns like toys. Does the chief minister wants to say that he does not have confidence in his police force? This move is driven by political interests,” the Congress
leader said.
A report published in March about gun deaths in the US had said nearly 47,000 people died of gun-related injuries in 2023. Though the toll decreased for the second straight year, it remained among the highest in the world. A BBC report in December, 2024, had said there were more than 488 mass shootings across the US so far.
“We will request the chief minister to revoke the shocking cabinet decision and to take steps to empower the police/security forces so that they can promptly react to threats and trouble. Let the old policy on issuance of arms licences continue,” Borah added.
The Seva Dal’s Assam unit president, Deep Bayam, was also critical of the cabinet decision, saying the BJP rode the “Jati Mati Bheti” slogan to power and now instead of protecting the people, it is asking the people to protect themselves.
“This move reflects the state government cannot protect its own people,” Bayan said.
Ripun Bora, former Assam Congress president, was equally critical of the move. He said the chief minister will soon turn Assam into a war zone in the name of religion.
While announcing the cabinet decision, the chief minister said there was a demand since the Assam Agitation days (1979-1985) for arms licences from indigenous/original people living in vulnerable and remote areas, where they were the minority.
He cited Dhubri, Morigaon, Nagaon, Barpeta and South Salmara as vulnerable areas. These are Muslim majority districts. Dhubri and South Salmara also borders Bangladesh, where indigenous people face threat from people living across the border.
He said indigenous people often “leave” these regions unable to cope with the threat to their existence and it was step towards protecting “jati mati bheti”.
