Arms licences to indigenous people will only be given after proper evaluation: Himanta

Guwahati: Amid criticism over the Assam government's decision to provide arms licence to indigenous people, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said it will only be given after "proper evaluation".

Speaking to reporters, Sarma said land rights also needed to be ensured for the indigenous people, along with arms licences.

"Guns are required. If you don't have a gun, how will you stay in South Salmara-Mankachar and Bagbar? If you go there, you will understand," he said on the sidelines of a programme in Baksa, when asked about the criticism over the "lenient" arms licence policy.

"There are 20,000-25,000 people surrounding it, and 100 people are staying in a 'Satra' (Vaishnavite seat of learning) amid them. They will need something," he claimed.

Sarma maintained that gun licences will be provided only after due evaluation and verification.

"Guns are needed, land is needed, rights are needed. But everything has to be within the purview of the law, not outside it," he added.

The state cabinet had on May 28 decided that the government would give arms licences to indigenous people living in "vulnerable and remote" areas for instilling a sense of security in them.

Sarma had identified Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Nagaon and South Salmara-Mankachar districts, and localities like Rupahi, Dhing and Jonia as "vulnerable and remote". All these areas are largely dominated by Bengali-speaking Muslims.

The opposition claims that the decision is aimed at polarising the people, and has the potential to jeopardise the state's hard-won peace.

Asked about possible eviction drives in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), where Baksa is located, Sarma said there is no proposal at the moment as indigenous people of the area are yet to get their land ownership documents.

"Eviction drives were started in the rest of the state only after land rights were settled under 'Mission Basundhara'. In BTR, first indigenous and rightful residents have to get the 'patta'. After that, we can go for eviction,” he said.

Claiming that the situation was as "grave in BTR as in the rest of Assam", Sarma said, “Every time I am here, I see that the vote of a certain community is increasing. And if it continues to happen, the Bodos and other people of BTR who have sacrificed for this land will not have the political power in their hands."

Dismissing criticism against the eviction drives, he said, "Miya Muslims have gone to upper Assam, north Assam, to change the demography of the state. We will have to take legal steps against them, evict them as per the law. I am not bothered who says what about it."

'Miya' is originally a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, and the non-Bengali speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term as a gesture of defiance.