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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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
