Assam opposition slams state govt for arms training camp

Just hours after the Assam DGP ordered a probe into an incident in Mangaldoi town where youths were coached in an alleged arms training camp that was organised by the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, the opposition on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the state government.

Trinamool Congress leader Ripun Bora claimed that the BJP has resorted to the tactics of terrifying people to win the 2024 general elections.

Addressing reporters, he said: “The BJP has the blueprint to win the general election by provoking the public in the line of communalism to make India a Hindu majority state.”

Bora further alleged that the arms training, communal tension in Haryana, and the violence in Manipur are examples of the BJP’s motive to deteriorate law and order and create panic situations for their benefit.

Meanwhile, Leader of Oppostion in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia has written a letter to the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma demanding action against the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal.

He alleged that the outfit had conducted similar training camps in 2017 and 2019, bur the state administration did not take any action.

Saikia claimed that such incidents can disturb communal harmony and peace.

Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi said: “Soon a Manipur-like conflict will happen in Assam too based on religion. The state administration will be completely responsible for that. BJP often alleges that arms training happens in masjid and madrasas, now the government should take action against the particular school.”

A video of the incident went viral on social media which showed some 300 youths being trained to handle guns and other weapons at the four-day camp organised in the Maharishi Vidyamandir School in Mangaldoi.

The training camp began on July 27.

Soon after the video emerged, questions were raised about how the organisation could manage such a huge cache of arms without being noticed by the police and administration.