Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced Thursday he’ll repost a controversial video of himself symbolically “shooting” two skull-capped men—this time explicitly calling them “Bangladeshis.”
The original clip, shared by BJP’s Assam unit on February 7, merged real footage of Sarma with rifles and AI-generated images of Muslims as targets. On-screen text blared “Foreigner free Assam,” “No mercy,” “Why did you not go to Pakistan?” and “There is no forgiveness to Bangladeshis.” It drew backlash, prompting deletion.
Congress’ Assam unit and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen filed police complaints; CPI(M) and CPI approached the Supreme Court.
In an Aaj Tak interview, Sarma defended it as “correct” but flawed for omitting “Bangladeshi,” making it “constitutionally wrong.” Pressed on legality, he clarified: “So that Bangladeshis don’t infiltrate into Assam, the Assam chief minister will have to shoot at them, symbolically.” He plans to share the “corrected” version from his personal X account ahead of April’s Assembly elections.
BJP Assam chief Dilip Saikia had called the original “unauthorised” and “immature,” sacking a social media co-convenor. Saikia stressed opposition to “illegal immigrant Bangladeshis,” not targeting Muslims with “mala fide intent.”
Sarma reiterated: “We are not against Assamese Muslims but against Bangladeshi Muslims, Miya Muslims.” “Miya,” once a slur for Bengali-origin Muslims (often accused of being undocumented Bangladeshis from colonial migrations), is now reclaimed by some as self-identity.
Sarma’s recent Miya-targeted remarks include vowing to “make them suffer” and directing BJP workers to purge their names from electoral rolls. The Supreme Court declined FIR pleas against him for hate speech, advising High Court approaches.