Patna: People`s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has demanded resignation of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly violating the constitutional goal of upholding equality and secularism by inciting hostility against Muslims and Christians.
PUCL president Kavita Srivastava and general secretary Dr V Suresh alleged that Sarma should have governed the state without ‘fear or favour, affection or ill-will’ but instead his actions constituted violations of the oath of office on various occasions. It is deeply alarming that a constitutionally elected chief minister is inciting hostility against Muslims and Christian minorities, they alleged.
Condemning the recent statements made by Sarma promoting divisive rhetoric against minorities, they said, “On February 8, 2026, a video which has come to be referred to as the `Point-blank video’ purportedly showed Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma aiming a rifle and firing a shot at two individuals — one wearing a skullcap and the other sporting a beard that looked like a Muslim man. The wall the photo was hung on bore the words “No mercy” – with the caption “point-blank shot”. Though the outrage which greeted this video resulted in the video being removed from the social media page of the BJP Assam unit, the damage had been done. For the video reinforced the CMs constant diatribe against Bengali Muslims as intruders who have stolen the jobs of Assamese thereby inflaming passions with the potential to result in major violence against Muslims and other minorities.”
“We are constrained to point out that Sarma has a notorious track record of making hateful statements about religious minorities, from Christians to Muslims as well as statements which reinforces the legitimacy of caste hierarchy and order. The rhetoric of the chief minister has often gratuitously and pejoratively invoked the term ‘jihad’ in connection with various issues involving the Muslim community,” added PUCL`s top office bearers.
PUCL president and general secretary also demanded from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against Assam chief minister under Article 355 to ensure that the state was governed in ‘accordance with the provisions of the Constitution’.
“As Assam prepares for the assembly polls, Sarma has intensified his attack on Bengali Muslims as he has claimed that between 'four to five lakh Miya voters' will be removed from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the state. Sarma also emphasised that he and BJP are directly against ‘Miyas’ and urged people to ‘trouble’ them, saying “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam,” they alleged.
PUCL`s top office bearers contended, “In August 2024, Sarma recklessly accused the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, a Muslim-run institution, of engaging in 'flood jihad', blaming it for the outbreak of floods in Guwahati. He has also made the ridiculous claim that the university has a Mecca-like structure, and therefore it is a symbol of 'jihad'. Similarly, Sarma also made the unfounded allegation that Bengali Muslim farmers were practising 'land and fertiliser jihad' by using high amounts of fertilisers on their crops.”
