'Nothing but a call to genocide': Opposition lashes out at Assam's BJP over Himanta's 'point-blank' video

New Delhi: Opposition on Sunday hit out at the ruling BJP over a video posted on 'X' by its Assam unit that showed , saying it was “nothing but a call to genocide” and demanded strict action, as it was a hate-campaign against Muslims.

The Assam BJP unit removed the post from its handle, as a furore erupted over the video that purportedly showed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma taking aim with a rifle and symbolically firing at two people, who are depicted as from the minority community, with a caption “point-blank shot”.

On its official ‘X’ handle, the Congress said the video is "deeply abhorrent and disturbing" and cannot be dismissed as random troll content.

"This amounts to a call to mass violence and genocide. It is a reflection of the true face of this fascist regime, which has harboured this hatred for decades and, in the last 11 years, tried to normalise it," it said.

Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said there "should not be any leniency shown" in this case and urged the judiciary to take action as there is "no hope" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will condemn or act against it.

"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 since decades. This is not an innocuous video to be ignored as troll content. It is poison spread from the very top, and there must be consequences for this," he said on 'X'.

CPI(M) said on X that the video amounts to an "open call for ethnic cleansing and genocide" and demanded that Sarma be "put behind bars before a catastrophe unfolds" in Assam. "The Supreme Court should immediately take strict action against him and his coterie for vitiating communal harmony, creating enmity between communities, and publicly calling for violence. Our secular fabric must be protected at all costs," it said.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha Deputy leader Sagarika Ghose said the Assam BJP has committed a UAPA offence and is "guilty of clear incitement" to violence. "Can’t get away with deleting the ad. Also attracts 152, 156 and 192 BNS. Exemplary punishment must be given in this case," she said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the post was "the most hate driven, targeted video titled 'Point Blank Shot' and after outrage it went on to delete the post. "Shamelessly the Election Commission will ignore this vilest form of hate and political targeting. Toothless and useless, literally, in front of BJP," she said.

Congress General Secretary and Working Committee member Syed Naseer Hussain said that the video has intensified  the "hate campaign against Bengali-origin Muslims" that has been led by the Chief Minister himself.

"Such imagery, emanating from an official political platform, raises grave concerns for India’s constitutional ethos...There has been a repeated pattern of rhetoric and measures directed at Muslims in Assam...Such interventions, taken together, contribute to a climate of anxiety and deepen social fault lines, raising serious questions about the direction of public discourse in the state," he said.