Indian opposition condemns Assam BJP video depicting violence against Muslims
The video, which was deleted after several hours following a backlash, combined real footage of the chief minister holding firearms with AI-generated visuals showing bullets striking men identified by skull caps and beards
India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam came under fire on Friday after its state unit posted a social media video depicting Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma symbolically firing at Muslims at "point-blank range," prompting condemnation from opposition parties and civil society groups.
The video, which was deleted after several hours following a backlash, combined real footage of the chief minister holding firearms with AI-generated visuals showing bullets striking men identified by skull caps and beards. It also featured slogans such as "foreigner-free Assam," "no mercy," and "there is no forgiveness for Bangladeshis".
Opposition leaders accused the BJP of inciting violence and demanded legal action, says India Today.
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Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sagarika Ghose said the post amounted to a criminal offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, describing it as "state-enabled radicalisation". She said deleting the advertisement was not sufficient punishment.
The Indian National Congress said the video amounted to a call to "mass violence and genocide". Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal described it as "poison spread from the very top", while other party members questioned whether the country's judicial institutions were "sleeping".
Rights activist Harsh Mander filed a police complaint alleging hate speech, saying the chief minister's rhetoric undermines constitutional values.
The controversy has drawn attention to Sarma's past remarks targeting the "Miya" community, a term often used pejoratively for Bengali-origin Muslims in Assam. According to opposition leaders and activists, Sarma has previously said he intended to "make the Miya people suffer" during electoral roll revisions to encourage them to leave the state.
He has also been accused of urging economic boycotts against the community, including suggesting that people should underpay "Miya" rickshaw pullers. Sarma has further claimed that between four to five lakh Muslim votes would be deleted ahead of state assembly elections.
Separately, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi raised allegations over the acquisition of 12,000 bighas, or about 4,000 acres, of prime land by Sarma and his family. Gogoi challenged the chief minister to explain the holdings and said a future Congress government would redistribute such lands to the poor and landless.
Sarma held a lengthy press conference addressing the broader controversy, but opposition leaders said his explanations failed to convince them, arguing that the public no longer takes his statements seriously.
