The Crossbill News Desk
A political storm erupted on Sunday after the Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of promoting extreme violence through a video briefly shared by the BJP’s Assam unit on X, alleging that it amounted to a call for the “targeted point-blank murder of minorities” and demanded urgent judicial intervention.
The video, which has since been deleted, purportedly showed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma aiming a rifle and firing at two individuals — one wearing a skull cap and the other sporting a beard — accompanied by the caption “point-blank shot.”
The visuals triggered sharp reactions from opposition leaders across parties.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal strongly condemned the ruling party over the post.
“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 for decades,” Venugopal said on X.
Calling the content far from innocuous, he added that it was “poison spread from the very top” and insisted that accountability was unavoidable.
“There is no hope that Narendra Modi will condemn or act against this, but the judiciary must act, and there shouldn’t be any leniency shown in this case,” Venugopal said.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said merely deleting the post was inadequate.
“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?” she said on X.
Another Congress leader, Shama Mohammed, directly addressed the prime minister in a post.
“@narendramodi, you talk about ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, but your favourite man, Himanta Biswa Sarma, made a video Shooting Muslims and got it posted from the official handle of BJP Assam.”
“This is an attack on the Indian Constitution. I am shocked that the Supreme Court of India is acting as a mute spectator. The court’s silence and failure to take suo motu cognisance puts its role into question,” she added.
The controversy also drew criticism from allies and other opposition parties.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the video was widely circulated before being taken down.
“The BJP Assam Pradesh X handle posted one of the most hate driven, targeted video titled ‘Point Blank Shot’ , after outrage it went on to delete the post but was there long enough for many people to download it & spread further,” Chaturvedi said on X.
“Shamelessly EC will ignore this vilest form of hate and political targeting. Toothless and useless, literally, in front of BJP,” she added.
Despite the deletion, the video continued to attract condemnation. The Constitutional Conduct Group, comprising retired IAS, IFS and IPS officers, said the incident stood out even amid the prevailing political climate.
“Even judging by the ugliness of the hate speeches being used by politicians all over the country these days, particularly when States are facing elections, the nastiness of the recent speech of Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam comes as a shock to citizens of this country,” the group said in a statement.
It urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of Sarma’s alleged hate speeches, stating that they violated and were in contempt of the court’s earlier orders.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose described the episode as a serious criminal offence.
“The @BJP4India Assam 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 wrote on X.
Earlier, tagging the prime minister, Union home minister Amit Shah and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, she had termed the video a “shameful” ad and demanded immediate arrests.
“Whoever has made this ad needs to be IMMEDIATELY arrested . You need to act,” Ghose had written.
The backlash comes amid mounting scrutiny of the Assam chief minister’s remarks in recent months.
Earlier this week, a group of 43 writers, intellectuals, professionals and activists from Assam, led by Hiren Gohain, approached the Gauhati High Court seeking suo motu cognisance of Sarma’s repeated hate speeches, alleged executive interference in the revision of electoral rolls, and what they termed multiple constitutional violations.
The video, which has since been deleted, purportedly showed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma aiming a rifle and firing at two individuals — one wearing a skull cap and the other sporting a beard — accompanied by the caption “point-blank shot.”
The visuals triggered sharp reactions from opposition leaders across parties.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal strongly condemned the ruling party over the post.
“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 for decades,” Venugopal said on X.
Calling the content far from innocuous, he added that it was “poison spread from the very top” and insisted that accountability was unavoidable.
“There is no hope that Narendra Modi will condemn or act against this, but the judiciary must act, and there shouldn’t be any leniency shown in this case,” Venugopal said.
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.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) February 8, 2026
This is not an innocuous video to be ignored as troll content. It is poison spread… pic.twitter.com/8mHxo4UjZV
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said merely deleting the post was inadequate.
“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?” she said on X.
Another Congress leader, Shama Mohammed, directly addressed the prime minister in a post.
“@narendramodi, you talk about ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, but your favourite man, Himanta Biswa Sarma, made a video Shooting Muslims and got it posted from the official handle of BJP Assam.”
“This is an attack on the Indian Constitution. I am shocked that the Supreme Court of India is acting as a mute spectator. The court’s silence and failure to take suo motu cognisance puts its role into question,” she added.
The controversy also drew criticism from allies and other opposition parties.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the video was widely circulated before being taken down.
“The BJP Assam Pradesh X handle posted one of the most hate driven, targeted video titled ‘Point Blank Shot’ , after outrage it went on to delete the post but was there long enough for many people to download it & spread further,” Chaturvedi said on X.
“Shamelessly EC will ignore this vilest form of hate and political targeting. Toothless and useless, literally, in front of BJP,” she added.
The BJP Assam Pradesh X handle posted one of the most hate driven, targeted video titled ‘Point Blank Shot’ , after outrage it went on to delete the post but was there long enough for many people to download it&spread further. Shamelessly EC will ignore this vilest form of hate…
— Priyanka Chaturvedi???????? (@priyankac19) February 8, 2026
Despite the deletion, the video continued to attract condemnation. The Constitutional Conduct Group, comprising retired IAS, IFS and IPS officers, said the incident stood out even amid the prevailing political climate.
“Even judging by the ugliness of the hate speeches being used by politicians all over the country these days, particularly when States are facing elections, the nastiness of the recent speech of Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam comes as a shock to citizens of this country,” the group said in a statement.
It urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of Sarma’s alleged hate speeches, stating that they violated and were in contempt of the court’s earlier orders.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose described the episode as a serious criminal offence.
“The @BJP4India Assam 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 wrote on X.
Earlier, tagging the prime minister, Union home minister Amit Shah and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, she had termed the video a “shameful” ad and demanded immediate arrests.
“Whoever has made this ad needs to be IMMEDIATELY arrested . You need to act,” Ghose had written.
The backlash comes amid mounting scrutiny of the Assam chief minister’s remarks in recent months.
Earlier this week, a group of 43 writers, intellectuals, professionals and activists from Assam, led by Hiren Gohain, approached the Gauhati High Court seeking suo motu cognisance of Sarma’s repeated hate speeches, alleged executive interference in the revision of electoral rolls, and what they termed multiple constitutional violations.
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