By Sunita D
Ahead of Bodoland Council Territorial (BTC) Assam elections, the BJP government posted a video on its ‘X’ account on Monday, alleging that there is a threat from illegal Muslim immigrants to the state. One of these is an AI-generated video titled ‘Assam without BJP’. The video shows men in skull caps and women in hijabs, apparently Muslims, everywhere, right from major tea-growing states to Guwahati airport and Accoland. It ends with a text, “90% Muslim Population”, implying Muslims would be dominating the state if BJP were not in power, followed by “Choose your vote carefully” towards the end of the video. The opposition has criticised the BJP for harbouring the dream of a Muslim-free India.
Referring to BJP’s video, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi alleged in his ‘X’ post, “The very existence of Muslims in India is a problem for the saffron party.” They are not fear-mongering just for votes; this is the repulsive Hindutva ideology in true form.”
“Their dream is a Muslim-mukt Bharat,” he continued.
The Assam Congress party filed a police complaint against the BJP post-controversy, alleging the use of AI-generated videos on social media to target Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Gaurav Gogoi and the Muslim community, leading to communal division in the state.
Rupam Goswami, spokesperson for the Assam BJP, defended the video by calling it a “picturation of a fact”. The population change in Assam’s 14 districts is worrying. The threat is not from Muslims but from the illegal immigration of Muslims. We have to be conscious of it. They have become economically strong, they are damaging us socially, and they will take away our political rights, he concluded.