The ruling BJP in Assam on Saturday deleted a social media post that had screenshots from an AI-generated video that depicts an avatar of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma taking aim at a framed photo of two Muslim men along with the caption “Point blank shot”.

The party took down the post within hours following widespread outrage. Replying to reporters’ questions, Sarma said he had not seen any such video, nor had such a video been shared from his social media accounts.

The blatantly communal Assam BJP post coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country. Observers said the post was removed as an afterthought so as not to cause embarrassment to Modi on foreign soil.

In an X post, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra flagged the Malaysia angle while reacting to the 16-second video clip.

Tagging Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Moitra wrote: “… Islam is Malaysia’s official religion with 65% Muslims. Please watch video of a BJP Chief Minister in India shooting Muslims point blank for fun. Please ask PM Modi to explain this before
you engage with him next. @MYHCNewDelhi”.

Tagging Modi in another post, she asked him whether “your cops (will) file suo motu FIR as SC ordered” in connection with the video.

She urged the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of India and all high court judges to watch the video posted by the Assam BJP.

“SC in Writ 940/2022 ordered suo motu FIRs for hate speech. Please let us know what more this man needs to do for you to wake up?” Moitra wrote.

Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose said the BJP had committed a UAPA offence and was guilty of 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.

The Congress said the post “appears to glorify the targeted, ‘point-blank’ murder of minorities”.

“It 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,” the Congress posted on its official X handle.

The party requested the judiciary “to take the strictest of action against such open calls for violence that threaten peace and spread social hostility”.

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said: “This is who the BJP really is: Mass murderers. This venom, hatred and violence is on you Mr Modi. Are the courts and other institutions sleeping?”