SAFFRON POSTERBOY

What qualifies prima facie as hate speech outside Assam is pitched as a defence of the historical/linguistic/cultural/economic rights of the indigenous population within the state

- Rajdeep Sardesai

Even by the morally vacuous standards of social media, a venomous video put up by the Assam BJP marks anew low.

The controversial video — now deleted - showed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma using an air rifle at ‘point blank” range aiming at two men, one ina skull cap, the other bearded. While the video purportedly claimed to be targeting Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants and standing up for ethnic Assamese identity, the violent communal imagery could not have been more starkly spiteful. A chief minister of a state, a constitutionally elected leader, pointing his gun at Muslims, is the most egregious example of a brazen violation of constitutional responsibilities.

A crafty politician, Sarma has rather disingenuously claimed that he has no knowledge of any such video. But the deniability carries little weight. The video was put up by the Assam BJP on its official handle on X. It garnered more than a million views before it was taken down. The video wasn't an aberration either. For months now, Sarma has led a sustained, toxic campaign against ‘Miyas,’ acrude pejorative term used against Bengali-speaking Muslims in ‘Assam. He has even called for an economic boycott of ‘Mi-yas’, be it shopkeepers, vegetable vendors or auto-rickshaw drivers. Far from being apologetic about his stance, Sarma has justified his utterances as ‘necessary’ to protect Assam’s cultural-civilisational ethos.