Oppn accuses Himanta of inciting violence through deleted video

Guwahati: Assam PCC president Gaurav Gogoi alleged that CM Himanta Biswa Sarma was “inciting genocide” through videos aimed against Muslims.

His remarks came after a video (later deleted) shared by the Assam unit of BJP on X stirred controversy, as it showed Sarma purportedly aiming with a rifle and firing a shot at two people. One of them wore a skull cap, and the other had a beard, while the caption read “point-blank shot”.




Sarma told mediapersons in Dibrugarh that he was not aware of any such video, over which AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has even filed a police complaint in Hyderabad. “I am not aware of any videos. If a case was filed against me, let them arrest me. But I will remain firm on my words. We are against Bangladeshi infiltrators and will always be against them. I will be ready to go to jail. What can I do?” he said.

Gaurav took a dig at the CM, saying that after joining BJP from Congress, Sarma completely changed his religious stance. “After he joined BJP, such video was made by them, inciting genocide against Muslims. They circulated such a communal video,” Gaurav said. Gogoi urged police to take suo motu cognisance for targeting a particular community.

Assam Pradesh BJP spokesperson Ranjib Kumar Sharma said BJP posted the video aiming at migrant Muslims from Bangladesh who were trying to cross the India-Bangladesh international border. “Some people, especially Congress, misinterpreted the video and we deleted it,” Sharma told TOI.

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) reacted strongly to the video, accusing the ruling party of openly inciting communal violence in Assam. In a press statement issued to the media on Monday, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan said, “The video, which appeared on the Assam BJP’s Facebook and Twitter handles, carried a clear and dangerous message. The video depicted bullets being fired from chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s gun and showed certain groups of people being deliberately targeted, accompanied by the phrase ‘point blank shot’.”


AJP said the intent behind the video was unmistakable.