After openly urging people to engage in inflicting maximum harassment on Muslims, particularly Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma appeared in a video posted on the Assam BJP unit’s official X handle that showed him symbolically shooting Muslims at point-blank range, an act widely viewed as akin to a call for genocide, and the video was later removed following a fierce public backlash.
The video, which circulated widely on Saturday before being taken down, showed Sarma using rifles in what appeared to be original footage, while the depiction of Muslims being shot at close range was created using AI-generated images, and the accompanying captions intensified the outrage.
Text flashing across the video included phrases such as “point blank shoot,” “foreigner free Assam,” “No mercy,” “Why did you not go to Pakistan?” and “There is no forgiveness to Bangladeshis,” and critics said the language explicitly targeted Bengali-origin Muslims by portraying them as violent outsiders.
Opposition leaders and journalists swiftly condemned the video, and Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose described it as “shameful,” adding that those responsible should be “immediately arrested,” while journalist Rana Ayyub said the post exposed “depravity from the top” even as the Prime Minister spoke of outreach in Muslim-majority Malaysia.
Journalist M Reyaz also criticised the ruling party, saying it showed no qualms in sharing visuals of killing “Miya,” a term commonly used for Bengali-origin Muslims in Assam.
The controversy comes amid sustained criticism of Sarma’s recent remarks, and at a public event in Digboi he said that during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, he intended to “make the Miya people suffer,” while also urging others to “trouble” them, even suggesting that people underpay Muslim rickshaw drivers.
Rights activists and Opposition leaders argue that such statements legitimise everyday harassment, and they warn that the rhetoric deepens fear among an already marginalised community.
In Assam, Bengali-origin Muslims are among the most socio-economically vulnerable groups, and they are frequently portrayed as “illegal immigrants” despite being Indian citizens whose ancestors settled in the region generations ago.
Rights activist Harsh Mander has filed a police complaint accusing the Chief Minister of hate speech, and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has approached the Supreme Court, arguing that the statements are unconstitutional and dangerous. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi echoed these concerns, questioning how a Chief Minister could publicly advocate discrimination while holding a high constitutional office.