Guwahati, May 30 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday asserted that the decision to give arms licences to the indigenous people in 'sensitive' areas was taken after much thought as it is the responsibility of the state government to provide security to them.

The Constitution has given the right to life to these people too and also the right to possess arms, subject to certain rules and regulations, the chief minister said at a press conference here.

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"It is the responsibility of the state government to provide security to the indigenous people and so it has taken the decision to provide them with arms licences in sensitive areas along the international border," he said.

The state cabinet had taken a decision to this effect on Wednesday after reviewing the "demand" of the people living in these areas.

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He said that Assamese people living in some areas have been feeling insecure and they have been demanding arms licences for a long time.

"If the previous governments had given the licences in 1985 (after the Assam agitation), many indigenous people would not have sold their land and left their homes," the chief minister said.

Sarma had mentioned that some of the districts in this category are Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Nagaon and South Salmara-Mankachar, naming some other localities like Rupahi, Dhing and Jania which are mostly dominated by the migrant Bengali Muslim community.

Regarding opposition parties criticising the move, Sarma said that certain individuals and the Congress have always opposed the government's decisions and so "we cannot take it seriously".

The Congress, Trinamool Congress and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) have criticised the state government's decision to adopt a 'lenient' arms licence policy, claiming it has been done to 'polarise' the public which will jeopardise the state's hard-won peace.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)