Guwahati, May 29: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has clarified that the state’s new arms license policy will not be applicable to areas along the borders with Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland. The policy aims to issue arms licenses to “original inhabitants and indigenous communities” in vulnerable and border regions.

The Assam government had approved the policy on Wednesday, but CM Sarma emphasized that inter-state border issues should be resolved through mutual understanding and trust. “Assam has always maintained that inter-State border issues are matters that can and should be resolved through mutual understanding and trust,” he said.

The policy will be applicable in six districts: Barpeta, Dhubri, Goalpara, Morigaon, Nagaon, and South Salmara-Mankachar, where Bengali-speaking Muslims are a majority. Two of these districts, Dhubri and South Salmara-Mankachar, share a border with Bangladesh.

CM Sarma stated that the objective of the policy is to address the security concerns of indigenous people in these districts, who have been demanding arms licenses due to recent developments in Bangladesh. He assured that the government will be lenient in providing arms licenses to eligible people, who must be original inhabitants and belong to indigenous communities.