A now-deleted video generated by artificial intelligence and shared by India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam state, home to more than 12 million Muslims, has been widely condemned after it showed the northeastern state’s chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, appearing to shoot at an image of Muslims.
The 17-second clip shared on X and titled “point blank shot” circulated widely on social media on Saturday before being removed after public outrage and criticism from opposition politicians.
The video appeared to combine original footage of Sarma handling a rifle and AI-generated images showing him shooting at picture of two Muslim men under the title “No Mercy”. Sarma has been accused of running xenophobic campaigns against Muslims, who form one-third of the state’s population, before state elections expected in March or April.
Local media identified one of the men in the image as an MP of the opposition Indian National Congress party.
The video also included images of Sarma dressed as a cowboy and pointing a pistol, overlaid with text such as “Foreigner free Assam”.
This story was originally published in aljazeera.com. Read the full story here.