Overview

• The Assam Cabinet on May 28 approved a scheme to grant arms licences to indigenous residents in six remote and border districts to bolster personal security.
• Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defended the decision on May 30 as a constitutional right to self-defence and clarified it excludes inter-state border areas.
• Opposition figures Gaurav Gogoi and Debabrata Saikia condemned the policy as dangerous and politically motivated, warning it could fuel weapon misuse, fake encounters and communal tensions.
• On May 31, Debabrata Saikia wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal seeking immediate central intervention to revoke the scheme.
• Critics argue the policy breaches Assam’s constitutional mandate for law enforcement and could undermine the state’s fragile peace ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.