Assam oppn demands inquiry, action against arms training in Bajrang Dal camp

A video allegedly showing Bajrang Dal members practising arms training at a school in Mangaldoi became viral

Guwahati: The opposition Congress and the CPI(M) on Monday demanded action and inquiry into the alleged five-day arms training camp by the Bajrang Dal at a school in Assam’s Darrang district recently as shown in a viral video.

Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia in a letter to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma demanded action against the organisers and inquiry into the role of the district administration in either being unaware or giving permission to the organisers to hold a camp where the members were given arms training.

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A video (not verified by PTI) allegedly showing Bajrang Dal members practising arms training at a school in Mangaldoi became viral on Monday.

Saikia urged the chief minister to take legal action against the organisers of the camp as well as the officials of the state as this is intended to create a divide among people of different communities, religion and linguistic affiliations.

“This is not the first time that such camps have been organized. In 2017, the Bajrang Dal had organised a camp where arms training was imparted and the Congress had protested against it. Even in 2019, they had organised similar training programmes in different parts of the state,” the opposition leader said.

He said at a time when measures are being taken to maintain peace and harmony in the state, a section of “reactionary forces are out to whip up religious frenzy to create a law and order situation in the state.” The CPI(M) has also demanded that police should immediately conduct an inquiry into how Bajrang Dal members could freely use firearms and described it as a ”conspiracy to create communal tensions in the state”.
CPI(M) state secretary Suprakash Talukdar in a statement said these incidents are a ”threat to the peace and harmony in the state and is a matter of great concern”.

“Such incidents have increased since the BJP has come to power and the chief minister, who has often attempted to thwart protests by opposition parties, is silent on such blatant communal activities by the Bajrang Dal,” Talukdar alleged.

A police official when contacted, however, refused to comment on the incident.