The Crossbill Team
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 10) indicated that it would urgently hear a petition filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over alleged communal speeches and a controversial social media video that was later deleted.
The plea alleges that the content and statements attributed to the chief minister amount to hate speech and incitement against the Muslim community.
During the oral mentioning of the matter, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant remarked, “As elections take place, part of the elections take place in the Supreme Court.”
The Chief Justice agreed to assign an early date for hearing after Advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for the petitioner, requested urgent listing.
The petition accuses Sarma of engaging in a “sustained pattern of hate speeches” while holding the constitutional office of the chief minister.
According to the CPI(M), Sarma has made multiple public statements that allegedly “target, terrorise, and instigate hostility and overt violence against the Muslim community residing in Assam”.
It further states, “Since assuming office, Respondent No. 4 (Sarma) has, on numerous occasions, delivered public speeches and made statements — both within and beyond the territorial limits of the State — which have been widely disseminated across print, electronic, and digital media platforms. These statements, viewed cumulatively, constitute ex facie hate speech inasmuch as they degrade and demean a minority, propagate false and stigmatising stereotypes, incite social and economic boycott, and encourage conditions of exclusion and violence against the community”.
A key focus of the petition is a video posted on February 7, 2026, from the official X handle of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Assam unit, ‘BJP Assam Pradesh’ (@BJP4Assam).
Also read: BJP Assam’s Deleted X Video Draws Sharp Criticism From Congress, Opposition Parties
The video, which was later deleted, allegedly showed Sarma discharging a firearm at an animated image of two visibly Muslim men positioned within the weapon’s crosshairs, accompanied by phrases such as ‘point-blank shot’ and ‘no mercy’. The petition describes this video as “the most blatant and disturbing manifestation of the pattern complained of”.
The plea notes that the video culminates in a stylised image of Sarma dressed in cowboy attire, along with slogans translating to “Foreigner-free Assam”, “Community, land, roots first”, “Why did you go to Pakistan”, and “No forgiveness for Bangladeshis”.
It argues, “When viewed in its surrounding factual and political context, the cumulative symbolic and visual rhetoric embodied in the material serves to reinforce and amplify a climate of hostility, exclusion, and intimidation directed against the minority community”.
Although the video was taken down following widespread criticism, the petition points out that it continued to circulate across social media platforms through multiple other accounts, thereby sustaining its impact.
The CPI(M) also invoked constitutional history to underline its argument, recalling that national deliberations to counter communalism and divisive tendencies led to the enactment of the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963. The amendment altered Articles 84 and 173 of the Constitution, as well as the oath prescribed in the Third Schedule, to require ministers and constitutional functionaries to explicitly swear allegiance to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
“This Constitutional oath constitutes the foundational assurance that public power shall be exercised in fidelity to the Constitution and in furtherance of its core values of constitutional morality, equality, fraternity, and the sovereignty and integrity of India,” the petition stated.
It further contended that the constitutional framework places an “affirmative and inviolable duty” on ministers at both the Union and state levels to safeguard national unity and fraternity. Any action that fuels communal hatred or social division, the petition argued, undermines the constitutional trust vested in holders of public office and falls outside the legitimate scope of ministerial authority.
The plea alleges that the content and statements attributed to the chief minister amount to hate speech and incitement against the Muslim community.
During the oral mentioning of the matter, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant remarked, “As elections take place, part of the elections take place in the Supreme Court.”
The Chief Justice agreed to assign an early date for hearing after Advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for the petitioner, requested urgent listing.
The petition accuses Sarma of engaging in a “sustained pattern of hate speeches” while holding the constitutional office of the chief minister.
According to the CPI(M), Sarma has made multiple public statements that allegedly “target, terrorise, and instigate hostility and overt violence against the Muslim community residing in Assam”.
It further states, “Since assuming office, Respondent No. 4 (Sarma) has, on numerous occasions, delivered public speeches and made statements — both within and beyond the territorial limits of the State — which have been widely disseminated across print, electronic, and digital media platforms. These statements, viewed cumulatively, constitute ex facie hate speech inasmuch as they degrade and demean a minority, propagate false and stigmatising stereotypes, incite social and economic boycott, and encourage conditions of exclusion and violence against the community”.
A key focus of the petition is a video posted on February 7, 2026, from the official X handle of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Assam unit, ‘BJP Assam Pradesh’ (@BJP4Assam).
Also read: BJP Assam’s Deleted X Video Draws Sharp Criticism From Congress, Opposition Parties
The video, which was later deleted, allegedly showed Sarma discharging a firearm at an animated image of two visibly Muslim men positioned within the weapon’s crosshairs, accompanied by phrases such as ‘point-blank shot’ and ‘no mercy’. The petition describes this video as “the most blatant and disturbing manifestation of the pattern complained of”.
The plea notes that the video culminates in a stylised image of Sarma dressed in cowboy attire, along with slogans translating to “Foreigner-free Assam”, “Community, land, roots first”, “Why did you go to Pakistan”, and “No forgiveness for Bangladeshis”.
It argues, “When viewed in its surrounding factual and political context, the cumulative symbolic and visual rhetoric embodied in the material serves to reinforce and amplify a climate of hostility, exclusion, and intimidation directed against the minority community”.
Although the video was taken down following widespread criticism, the petition points out that it continued to circulate across social media platforms through multiple other accounts, thereby sustaining its impact.
The CPI(M) also invoked constitutional history to underline its argument, recalling that national deliberations to counter communalism and divisive tendencies led to the enactment of the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963. The amendment altered Articles 84 and 173 of the Constitution, as well as the oath prescribed in the Third Schedule, to require ministers and constitutional functionaries to explicitly swear allegiance to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
“This Constitutional oath constitutes the foundational assurance that public power shall be exercised in fidelity to the Constitution and in furtherance of its core values of constitutional morality, equality, fraternity, and the sovereignty and integrity of India,” the petition stated.
It further contended that the constitutional framework places an “affirmative and inviolable duty” on ministers at both the Union and state levels to safeguard national unity and fraternity. Any action that fuels communal hatred or social division, the petition argued, undermines the constitutional trust vested in holders of public office and falls outside the legitimate scope of ministerial authority.
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