Assam BJP Deletes Controversial AI Clip

The Assam unit of the ruling BJP quietly removed a social media post featuring stills from an AI-generated video that appeared to show an avatar of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma taking aim at a framed image of two Muslim men. The caption read: “Point blank shot.”

The post was deleted within hours, but not before it triggered widespread outrage and sharp political reactions. The Chief Minister later said he had neither seen the video nor shared it from his personal accounts.

What might have otherwise passed as fringe online content acquired deeper significance because it came from an official party handle. In a country where religious fault lines are never far from the surface, such imagery is not merely provocative it carries the weight of history. India has seen how digitally manufactured outrage often precedes real-world hostility, particularly in the months leading to elections.

The episode unfolded as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a diplomatic visit to Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation. Opposition leaders linked the timing to potential diplomatic embarrassment, arguing that domestic rhetoric does not remain confined within borders in the age of viral media.

Critics described the video as an example of how AI tools are being weaponised to amplify polarisation. The blending of technology and communal messaging has emerged as a troubling trend, lowering the threshold for incendiary propaganda while allowing plausible deniability once backlash erupts.

Assam has, over the past few years, witnessed intense political rhetoric around identity, migration and citizenship. During election cycles, these themes often sharpen into binaries of “us versus them”, reinforcing a sense of siege among communities. Digital platforms have become accelerants, rewarding the most divisive content with the widest reach.

The swift deletion of the post underscores a recurring pattern: content is uploaded, outrage follows, and removal is presented as closure. Yet the screenshots linger, and so does the distrust.

In a democracy as diverse as India’s, political messaging carries consequences far beyond the screen. When religious imagery intersects with electoral ambition, the damage can outlast the news cycle.