New Delhi: ‘Social media coordinator suspended over unauthorised Himanta video’: Assam BJP
The Assam Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said a co-coordinator of its social media team, Ron Bikash Gaurav, has been suspended for a now-deleted post featuring an AI-generated video of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma holding a rifle.
Assam BJP chief spokesperson Kishor Upadhyay said Gaurav was suspended and a show-cause notice was issued because he hadn’t taken approval to post the video.
“He did not take permission to post such content. Sensitive material involving the chief minister requires prior approval from the social media in-charge, the party president or the CM’s office. The action was unauthorised, and prompt steps were taken,” Upadhyay said.
The video, posted on Saturday on the X handle of BJP’s Assam unit with the caption “point blank shot”, showed Sarma taking aim with a rifle and firing a shot at a photo of two individuals, both wearing a skull cap.
The video also included a photo of Sarma with text saying, “Identity, land and roots come first; Why did you go to Pakistan; No forgiveness for Bangladeshis”.
Following the backlash, the party removed the video even as the party’s top leaders claimed that they had not seen the controversial post on X. On February 11, Gaurav was removed from his position.
The Congress has called for strict action regarding the video. The party general secretary KC Venugopal said this is not an innocuous video to be ignored as troll content, but as “poison being spread from the very top”, and there must be consequences for this.
The Congress filed a police complaint over the social media post at the Dispur police station on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma criticised the post and stressed that he was unaware of the video before it was uploaded and asserted that he was prepared to face any legal scrutiny.
In a social media post on Thursday, Gaurav thanked the “right-wing community” for standing by him during what he described as an emotional and defining moment. “Your support gave me courage, dignity and renewed faith,” he said in a post on X.
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