Owaisi seeks criminal action against Assam CM over ‘point-blank shot’ video

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday lodged a complaint with city police seeking criminal action against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over a now-deleted purported video shared on social media.

The video, which was posted on the X handle of the BJP’s Assam unit and later removed, allegedly showed Sarma aiming a rifle and firing a shot at two individuals — one wearing a skull cap and the other sporting a beard — with the caption “point-blank shot”.

In a post on X, Owaisi said, “Unfortunately, genocidal hate speech has become a norm.”

In his complaint, the Hyderabad MP accused Sarma of “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of Muslims”, promote enmity between religious communities, and make imputations prejudicial to national integration.

Owaisi alleged that Sarma had, over the past several years, repeatedly made statements targeting the Muslim community through social media posts, print platforms, public speeches and other forums. He claimed that in recent months, these statements had intensified, with a “clear and conscious intention” to outrage religious feelings and promote hatred between Hindus and Muslims.

According to the complaint, Sarma was fully aware that such statements and imagery could harm communal harmony and were prejudicial to national integration.

Referring specifically to the February 7 post, Owaisi said the video — though taken down a day later — continued to circulate widely on social media. He alleged that the imagery portrayed Sarma as armed with a firearm and aiming it at persons “clearly depicted as Muslims”, before firing at them.

“The said post and video, along with the imagery used and phrases such as ‘point-blank shot’ and ‘no mercy’, constitute a deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage the religious feelings of Muslims, promote hatred and ill-will between religious communities, and incite communal violence,” Owaisi said in his complaint.

He urged the police to take criminal action against Sarma in accordance with the law.

The BJP and the Assam Chief Minister had not responded to Owaisi’s complaint at the time of filing this report.