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A now-deleted video posted by Assam's BJP unit depicting Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma taking aim at Muslim men has sparked widespread condemnation from opposition parties. Critics label it a blatant act of hate and a call for violence, igniting fierce outrage.
The Congress on Sunday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over a purported video posted on the X handle of the ruling party's Assam unit, claiming it shows the 'targeted point-blank murder of minorities' and the judiciary must act with no leniency shown in the matter.
The now-deleted video showed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma purportedly taking aim with a rifle and firing a shot at two people – one wearing a skull cap and the other with a beard, with "point-blank shot" as the caption.
The video showed what appears to be original footage of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma handling an air rifle interspersed with videos created by artificial intelligence, showing bullets from the air rifle hitting images of men with skull caps and beards – clearly meant to be markers of their faith.
'Nothing but a call to genocide'
Sarma is then depicted as a hero of a Western film, with text against his image calling for a “foreigner free Assam”. Reports say that the video also has Assamese text professing: “no mercy,” “Why did you not go to Pakistan?” and “There is no forgiveness to Bangladeshis,” among other phrases.
It was captioned “point blank shot.” Congress general secretary in charge of organisation, K C Venugopal, slammed the BJP over the video.
"An official BJP handle posted a video showing the targeted, 'point-blank' murder of minorities. This is nothing but a call to genocide - a dream this fascist regime has harboured for decades," Venugopal said on X.
Assam is voting to elect a new state government later this year.
"There is no hope that Narendra Modi will condemn or act against this, but the judiciary must act, and there shouldn't be any leniency shown in this case," Venugopal said.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said that deleting the video, which showed Assam Chief Minister Sarma "shooting Muslim men" with the caption "point-blank shot", was not enough.
"This is who the BJP really is: Mass murderers. This venom, hatred and violence is on you, Mr Modi. Are the courts and other institutions sleeping?" she said on X.
Disgraceful is a kind word: Aman Wadud
Congress leader and Assam spokesperson Aman Wadud also condemned the video. Can we still call ourselves a democracy? This is what we are up against! This is the system we are resisting! Vile ! Criminal ! Disgraceful is a kind word!," Wadud a lawyer said in a post.
Other opposition voices also slammed the BJP for the video. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called it the most hate-driven, targeted videos
"The BJP Assam Pradesh X handle posted one of the most hate-driven, targeted videos titled 'Point Blank Shot'; after outrage, it went on to delete the post, but it was there long enough for many people to download and spread it further," Chaturvedi said on X.
This is nothing but a call to genocide - a dream this fascist regime has harboured for decades.
"Shamelessly, EC will ignore this vilest form of hate and political targeting. Toothless and useless, literally, in front of BJP," she added.
(With agency inputs)
Key Takeaways
- The video has been widely criticized for inciting hate against minorities.
- Opposition parties are calling for accountability from the BJP and judicial action.
- The incident raises significant concerns about the state of democracy and political discourse in India.
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