Congress alleges the video spreads communal hatred and targets its leaders; BJP defends its stance, accusing Congress of intimidation
NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court has issued a notice on a plea seeking the removal of the AI-generated “Assam without BJP,” video posted on X by the state chapter of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The video depicts a scenario suggesting that Muslims would take over the state if the party loses the elections.
Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice on the application on Tuesday and posted it for hearing on October 28, media reports said.
The application claimed that the BJP’s Assam unit circulated a video last month (September 15) showing a “grossly false narrative that depicts the takeover of the state by Muslims if the BJP doesn’t remain in power in Assam” on its official X handle.
The video depicts a scenario where Muslims dominate public spaces in Assam, including tea gardens and airports, and suggests the legalisation of beef. The video was captioned: “We can’t let this dream of paijan to be true’ and an appeal to people to ”choose to vote carefully”.
The BJP has been referring to Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi as ‘Paijan’ ever since Chief Minister Himanta Biswa accused him of having alleged links with Pakistan’s ISI.
Reacting to the video, Gogoi claimed, “The words, actions and images produced by the BJP IT cell do not have the strength to scratch the surface of Assamese society.”
Congress claimed the video was designed to damage the reputation of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Gogoi and spread communal hatred by exaggerating the Muslim population in Assam to 90 per cent.
The Congress party also registered a police complaint, accusing the Assam BJP’s social media department of “criminal conspiracy, abetment, promoting enmity between religious groups”.
The complaint specifically names BJP state president Dilip Saikia and the party’s other social media campaigners. Police have stated that the allegations are under investigation.
Senior BJP leader and Assam Information Minister Pijush Hazarika responded by accusing Congress of attempting to intimidate those who speak against illegal infiltrators and demographic changes. Congress’s media department chairperson Bedabrat Bora, who filed the complaint, said the video promotes fear and hatred against Muslims and misrepresents India’s constitutional values. — With Inputs from Agencies
