Guwahati: A video generated using artificial intelligence (AI) by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Assam unit has triggered a political storm, with the Congress announcing plans to file a police complaint against it on Thursday.
The video, shared on BJP’s social media handles on Monday, depicts a hypothetical Muslim-majority Assam if the party were not in power. While the BJP defended it as a warning against the threat of illegal immigration, the Congress accused the ruling party of peddling communal propaganda and targeting its state unit president and Member of Parliament, Gaurav Gogoi.
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“The words, actions and images produced by the BJP IT cell do not even have the strength to scratch the surface of Assamese society. The proud state of Assam deserves politicians who help its people reach new heights,” Gogoi wrote on X. He added, “We want a society where hard work trumps hate, decency matters over hubris, democracy crushes autocracy, and everyone is treated with respect.”
The Congress media department said it would lodge an FIR against the Assam BJP for “posting a communal video on social media targeting our president and party.”
The controversial video, released ahead of the September 22 Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections, carried the tagline, “We can’t let this dream of Paaijaan come true.” The BJP has frequently used “Paaijaan” to describe Gogoi, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier alleging his supposed links with Pakistan — a matter probed by a special investigation team (SIT), whose report remains confidential.
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Defending the video, Assam cabinet minister Pijush Hazarika said it depicted the risk of undocumented migrants from Bangladesh altering the state’s demography. “If discussing illegal immigrants is Islamophobia, then are they suggesting all Muslims are illegal immigrants? Who is the real Islamophobe?” he posted on X.
The row comes just months ahead of the state assembly elections due in April-May next year.
