The government of Assam, a northeastern Indian state sharing borders with Muslim-majority Bangladesh, has announced plans to issue gun licences to indigenous residents, a move that has sparked widespread concern over potential religious and ethnic tensions.
Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), revealed that a dedicated online portal will be launched to allow indigenous people living in high-risk areas to apply for firearms.
According to Sarma, this initiative aims to empower locals who feel threatened amid growing insecurity along the Bangladesh border.
“We will open a website where indigenous people, who perceive a threat to their lives and reside in sensitive areas, can apply for arms licences,” Sarma said during a public address on Wednesday.
Despite India’s stringent gun control laws, the state’s new policy marks a significant departure from federal norms and has been met with sharp criticism from opposition parties and civil rights advocates.
Opposition lawmaker Gaurav Gogoi of the Indian National Congress warned that the move could lead to increased violence.
“This will lead to gang violence and crimes based on personal vendettas,” Gogoi posted on X, formerly Twitter. “This is not governance, this is a dangerous step backwards towards lawlessness.”
Assam, home to more than 31 million people, is a diverse region with a complex history of ethnic, linguistic, and religious tensions.
According to the 2011 national census, Muslims make up approximately 35% of the state’s population, the majority of whom are Bengali-speaking.
The rest are largely Hindus, including Assamese-speaking communities whom the BJP-led state government identifies as “indigenous”.
The gun licence announcement comes as part of a broader campaign by Sarma’s administration that critics say disproportionately targets Bengali-speaking Muslims.
This includes large-scale eviction drives and a push against so-called “illegal foreigners” or “doubtful citizens”, labels that many see as veiled references to Assam’s Bengali Muslim population.
The state made headlines in 2019 when it became the first in India to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a controversial citizenship verification process that excluded nearly two million residents a significant number of them Muslims, from the final list.
Many of those affected had lived in Assam for generations but were unable to produce the documentation required under the NRC.
In recent months, regional tensions have reportedly escalated following the collapse of Bangladesh’s former government, which had been seen as an ally of India’s ruling BJP.
Sarma has warned that recent political changes in Bangladesh have created a sense of vulnerability among indigenous communities in Assam’s border districts.
“The indigenous people now live in an atmosphere of insecurity due to the recent developments in Bangladesh,” Sarma stated.
While the BJP defends the gun licence initiative as a protective measure, critics argue it may inflame religious divisions in a state already on edge.
Civil society groups and opposition leaders have called for a reassessment of the policy, warning that arming specific communities could fuel further unrest in a region historically plagued by communal violence.
As the debate intensifies, many are watching closely to see how the decision will affect Assam’s fragile social fabric and whether it sets a precedent for similar actions in other parts of India.