Assam Civil Society slams CM over his silence on arms training camp

Guwahati: Intellectual organization Assam Civil Society (ACS) slammed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his silence on the Mangaldoi arms training case.

The arms training incident took place between July 27 and July 30, when Rashtriya Bajrang Dal conducted a camp for youths from different parts of Assam at a school in Darrang district’s Mangaldoi. The incident came to light when a video of the same circulated on social media.

ACS president and senior lawyer of the Gauhati High Court, Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury said, "Around 350 youths were trained at the school for four days. They were seen openly handling weapons; however, the police were silent. Even though the incident has come into the public domain, drawing wide-scale criticism, sufficient actions have not been taken against those involved in the arms training camp."

He also said that one of the cabinet ministers and a former BJP MLA had offered support to the training camp, but surprisingly, the Chief Minister has not said anything against it.

"Is he (Himanta Biswa Sarma) supporting the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal?" asked Choudhury.

"If the same thing had been done by any Muslim group, we guess the Chief Minister surely would have reacted in another way," he added.

ACS members have demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

"We have decided to write to the Chief Justice of the High Court for an impartial probe, and we also demand the immediate arrest of all the members of the outfit that has organized the arms training camp," they said.

With inputs from agencies