Owaisi seeks action against Assam CM over ‘point-blank shot’ video
Hyderabad (PTI): AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday lodged a complaint with the city police seeking criminal action against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over a now-deleted purported video shared on social media.
The video, which was posted by the Assam BJP on 'X' and later removed, allegedly showed Sarma taking aim with a rifle and firing a shot at two individuals—one wearing a skull cap and the other sporting a beard—with the caption "point-blank shot."
In a post on 'X', the Hyderabad MP said, "Unfortunately, genocidal hate speech has become a norm."
In his complaint, Owaisi accused Sarma of "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of Muslims", promote enmity between the two religious communities, and make imputations prejudicial to national integration.
The AIMIM chief further accused Sarma of continuously making statements over the past several years against the Muslim community through social media, print platforms, public speeches and other forums.
He alleged that in recent months, the chief minister had deliberately intensified his "hate speeches with a clear and conscious intention to outrage the religious feelings of Muslims and promote enmity and hatred between Hindus and Muslims", fully aware that such imputations are prejudicial to national integration and destructive of communal harmony.
Owaisi said the recent purported video posted on the 'X' handle of the BJP’s Assam unit on February 7—which was taken down a day later but continues to circulate on social media—depicts Sarma being portrayed as armed with a firearm and aiming it at persons "clearly depicted as Muslims", before shooting at them.
"The said post and video, along with the imagery used and phrases such as ‘point-blank shot’ and ‘no mercy’, constitute a deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage the religious feelings of Muslims, promote hatred and ill-will between religious communities, and incite communal violence," Owaisi said, seeking legal action against Sarma in accordance with the law.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
