Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday lodged a formal complaint with the Hyderabad city police seeking criminal action against Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over a now-deleted video that allegedly depicted him shooting at Muslims.“I have lodged an official complaint with CP Hyderabad City Police demanding criminal action against Himanta Sarma for his (now deleted) violent video showing him shooting Muslims. Unfortunately, genocidal hate speech has become a norm,” Owaisi said in a post on X.According to the complaint addressed to the Hyderabad commissioner of police, Owaisi alleged that Sarma has, over the years, made repeated statements targeting the Muslim community through social media, print media and public speeches.
He claimed that these statements had intensified in recent months with the intent to “outrage the religious feelings of Muslims” and promote enmity between religious communities.The complaint specifically refers to a video posted on the official X handle of the Assam Bharatiya Janata Party on February 7, 2026, which was taken down the following day but continues to circulate on other social media platforms. Owaisi alleged that the video portrayed Sarma armed with a firearm and aiming it at individuals “very obviously depicted as Muslims,” accompanied by phrases such as “Point blank shot” and “No Mercy.”Owaisi argued that the imagery and language used in the video amounted to a “deliberate and malicious act” intended to promote communal hatred and incite violence. He stated that he had viewed the video within the jurisdiction of the Hyderabad police, seeking to establish territorial jurisdiction.In his complaint, Owaisi cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shaheen Abdulla v Union of India & Ors, which directed law enforcement agencies to take suo motu action in cases of hate speech and held that inaction would amount to a dereliction of constitutional duty.He urged the police to initiate immediate legal action against the Assam chief minister in accordance with the law.
Himanta replies ‘ready to go to jail’
On AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi filing a case against him over a now-deleted video of him, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says, “I am ready to go to jail, what can I do? I do not know anything about any video. If he has filed a case against me, arrest me; what objection do I have? I have no objection. But I stand by my words, I am against Bangladeshi infiltrators and I will continue to be against them.”On being asked about the complaint by Owaisi, Sarma said, “I’ll be ready to go to jail”, if a case has been filed against me. What can I do? He went on to say he doesn’t mind a case against him but will always stand by my words, and continue to oppose “Bangladeshi’s infiltrators.”Sarma said, “I am ready to go to jail, what can I do? I do not know anything about any video. If he has filed a case against me, arrest me; what objection do I have? I have no objection. But I stand by my words, I am against Bangladeshi infiltrators and I will continue to be against them.”
