Video Gone, Anger Remains: FIR Against Assam CM Over Communal Clip

GUWAHATI: In a development that has intensified political tensions in Assam, the Congress party has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) at the Dispur Police Station against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, alleging the circulation of a highly provocative and communal video targeting the state’s Muslim community. The FIR was filed by Congress legislators Shivamoni Bora, Diganta Barman, and party media coordinator Bedabrata Bora.

The controversy centers around an AI-generated video initially shared on the official social media handle of the Assam BJP, which depicted Chief Minister Sarma symbolically firing at men wearing skull caps and sporting long beards—markers of their Muslim identity. The overlaid text included inflammatory phrases such as “foreigner free Assam,” “No mercy,” and “Why did you not go to Pakistan?” The Congress claims the video deliberately incites communal tensions and spreads "poisonous hatred" in violation of democratic norms.

Shivamoni Bora told reporters, “This is not acceptable in a democratic nation. Targeting a minority community in such a manner is an act of deliberate provocation. The BJP leadership must answer whether the Chief Minister is acting as a state leader or a provocateur.”

The political backlash has not been limited to Assam. Earlier on Monday, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has also lodged a complaint in Hyderabad, alleging repeated inflammatory statements by Sarma across media platforms aimed at sowing enmity between religious groups. Owaisi’s complaint described the actions as “deliberate and malicious attempts to outrage religious feelings and prejudice national integration.”

Chief Minister Sarma, responding to the FIR and Owaisi’s complaint, appeared defiant.

“I’ll be ready to go to jail, what can I do?” he said. “I don’t know anything about any video. If anyone has filed a case against me, [the police] should arrest me. I have no objection.” He added, however, that his stance against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants remains firm. “We are against Bangladeshi infiltrators, and we will continue to be against them,” CM Sarma said.

Later, BJP Assam president Dilip Saikia sought to downplay the controversy, asserting that the Chief Minister was captured holding an air rifle at a training center in Golaghat, and that the video’s AI-generated sequences were never intended to send a provocative message.

“When it was realized that the video could be misinterpreted negatively, we deleted it. A wrong message should not reach either the opposition or our supporters,” Saikia said.

Despite the BJP’s clarification, the political fallout has been significant. Congress leaders on Tuesday have called for accountability, questioning whether the Chief Minister’s actions amount to a form of state-sanctioned intimidation. “This is an attack not just on a community but on the principles of communal harmony and democratic ethics,” said Bedabrata Bora.

The FIR at Dispur now sets the stage for a tense legal and political battle in Assam, with questions mounting over the role of AI-generated content in inflaming social divisions and the responsibilities of political leaders in controlling its dissemination.

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