AI video row, Pakistan ‘deep links’: Himanta Biswa Sarma in face-off with Congress

Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma is locked in a political confrontation with the Opposition over a now-deleted AI-generated video allegedly depicting violence against minorities, as well as over serious allegations he has levelled against Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi.

The controversy erupted after the Assam BJP shared an AI-generated video on social media showing Sarma aiming a rifle and firing at images of two individuals wearing skull caps, accompanied by text such as “point blank shot” and slogans referring to identity, land and Pakistan. The post was later deleted, but not before drawing sharp condemnation from Opposition parties.

The Congress described the video as “abhorrent and disturbing,” alleging that it glorified the “targeted, point-blank murder of minorities” and amounted to a call for mass violence. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the content could not be dismissed as troll material, warning that “poison being spread from the very top” must have consequences.

Amid the backlash, Sarma held a press conference in Guwahati, releasing documents and making explosive claims against Gogoi and his British wife, alleging Pakistani “deep links.”

Sarma claimed that Gogoi had secretly travelled to Pakistan in 2013 without informing authorities and suggested that the Congress leader may have undergone “some kind of training” there. He also cited a photograph showing Gogoi visiting the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi with a group of youths, alleging that this amounted to an attempt to “legitimise Pakistan,” especially in light of the Kargil War and sacrifices made by Indian soldiers from Assam.

The Assam chief minister further alleged that Gogoi’s wife, Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi, worked in Pakistan between March 2011 and March 2012 and travelled to the country nine times. Sarma claimed she was gathering information about India and passing it on to Pakistan, and alleged she had links with a Pakistani national, Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, whom he described as part of an “anti-India conspiracy.” Sarma said the family’s connections warranted an investigation by a central agency.

The Congress strongly rejected the allegations. Gogoi, the Assam Congress president and Lok Sabha MP, dismissed Sarma’s press conference as “worse than a C-grade cinema” and a “super flop,” accusing the chief minister of raising baseless claims to divert attention from allegations that his family illegally occupied around 12,000 bighas of land.

Gogoi said the timing of the allegations — ahead of elections — showed political desperation. “If these claims were so serious, why was nothing done for the last six months?” he asked, adding that the BJP government had failed to convince even itself of the charges.

Senior Congress leaders also came out in Gogoi’s defence. AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh said Sarma had “diminished the dignity” of the chief minister’s office by making unsubstantiated personal attacks, adding that no documentary evidence had been produced. Former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora questioned why neither the Modi government nor investigative agencies acted after 2014 if the alleged Pakistan links were genuine.

Opposition leaders argued that no individual could be branded a “Pakistani agent” without conclusive findings, and accused the BJP of using polarising tactics to deflect from governance issues and land-related allegations against the chief minister.