An artificial intelligence–generated video shared by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the northeastern state of Assam has triggered widespread condemnation after it appeared to depict the state’s chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, shooting at images of Muslims.

The 17-second clip, titled “Point Blank Shot”, was posted on the social media platform X on Saturday and circulated widely before being deleted amid public outrage and criticism from opposition leaders. The video combined real footage of Sarma handling a rifle with AI-generated visuals that showed him firing at an image of two Muslim men under the caption “No Mercy”. One of the individuals depicted was later identified by local media as a sitting member of parliament from the opposition Indian National Congress.

Additional imagery in the video portrayed Sarma dressed as a cowboy pointing a pistol, accompanied by slogans such as “Foreigner Free Assam”. Critics said the content amounted to incitement against Muslims, who make up roughly one-third of Assam’s population of more than 35 million.

The video surfaced ahead of state elections expected in March or April, fueling accusations that the BJP is intensifying communal rhetoric for political gain. Sarma has previously been accused of running xenophobic campaigns targeting Bengali-origin Muslims, often referred to derogatorily as “Miya Muslims.”

The Assam unit of the BJP has not issued a formal apology or explanation. Ranjib Kumar Sarma, a local BJP leader, told The Indian Express that the video had been removed and declined further comment.

In recent months, the chief minister has escalated his rhetoric against Bengali-origin Muslims, frequently linking them to crime and demographic change. Last month, he publicly urged residents to subject “Miya Muslims” to everyday economic hardships, suggesting they should be underpaid for services to pressure them to leave the state.

This is not the first time the Assam BJP has shared controversial AI-generated content. In September, the party posted another video titled “Assam Without BJP”, depicting the state overtaken by Muslims labeled as “illegal immigrants.”

Assam has one of the highest Muslim population shares in India, surpassed only by Indian-administered Kashmir and the Lakshadweep islands. Human rights groups have raised alarms over recent actions by Indian authorities, including the reported illegal deportation of Indian Muslim citizens to Bangladesh without due process.

Human Rights Watch said last year that hundreds of ethnic Bengali Muslims had been expelled under claims of illegal immigration, describing the actions as unlawful.

Opposition leaders strongly condemned the latest video. Aman Wadud, a Congress leader in Assam, described it as “deeply disturbing,” accusing the BJP of disregarding the rule of law and basic decency. The Congress party said the video amounted to “a call to mass violence and genocide.”

All India Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra urged India’s judiciary to take notice, questioning how much further such actions would go without legal intervention.

The controversy comes amid a broader rise in anti-Muslim bigotry in India under the BJP government. Muslims constitute about 14 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population but have increasingly been portrayed by Hindu nationalist groups as outsiders or infiltrators. Citizenship laws amended in 2019 excluded Muslims from expedited naturalization, and incidents of lynching and discrimination have surged since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.

According to a 2025 report by the India Hate Lab, the country recorded 1,318 hate speech incidents last year, averaging more than three per day. Nearly all targeted Muslims, with explicit anti-Muslim language used in the vast majority of cases.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly accused senior BJP leaders, including Modi, of using inflammatory rhetoric during election campaigns. While Modi was previously denied a U.S. visa over alleged links to the 2002 anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat, he has since made multiple official visits to the United States as prime minister.

The now-deleted video has renewed concerns over the use of artificial intelligence in political propaganda and the growing normalization of hate speech in India’s public discourse. (ILKHA)