BJP Chhattisgarh draws flak for sharing Ghibli-style photo of Pahalgam terror attack

Several disturbing visuals of the devastating terrorist attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam are making rounds on social media. At least 26 people, including a 26-year-old Indian Navy officer, were brutally killed in the attack on Tuesday.

One such picture shows a woman sitting next to the body of a man, reportedly her husband, who the terrorists killed. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chhattisgarh unit brought in the viral AI trend into the picture by ‘ghiblifying’ the image using artificial intelligence.

Track updates on Pahalgam terror attack here.

The animated photo shared by the BJP Chhattisgarh’s X (formerly Twitter) handle is captioned in Hindi, which translates to, ‘Faith was asked, not caste… we will remember.’ However, this transformation of the image did not sit well with the people of the internet, who called it a mockery of the tragedy.

The caption refers to survivor accounts of the attack who said people were singled out and asked to recite Islamic verses before being killed when they couldn’t.

Also read: Heart-wrenching video: Pahalgam victims’ families break down before Amit Shah

How netizens reacted

BJP’s Chhattisgarh unit has drawn flak over the post, with netizens calling out this ‘ghiblification’ of the image a “deep insult to victims”.

In response to BJP Chhattisgarh’s post, one user replied, “Usually don’t engage w political accounts but this is a deep insult to the victims. You are a political party, go do your work. Leave the tweeting to people here who don’t have the power to do anything.”

Another user wrote, “They couldn't wait for a day to stoop this low, which is not surprising at all, unfortunately.”

Also read: Pahalgam attack: Rajnath Singh chairs high-level meet with 3 armed forces chiefs, NSA Ajit Doval

One user said, “'Wait lemme Ghiblify this image first' is a weird thought to have for such an event.”

“An AI Ghibli anime edit of a terrorist massacre. Nothing is too low,” said another.

One of the users called the act ‘sickening’. “Making a Ghibli-style AI edit of a terrorist massacre is just sickening. The loss of innocent lives is not aesthetic content. Have a shred of conscience,” they wrote.

The trend of turning pictures into studio Ghibli-style images took of recently. Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio known for making movies such as Spiritied Away, Howl's Moving Castle and more. One of the key features of Ghibli-style animation is its soft dream-like aesthetics.

Amit Shah meets victims’ families

Home minister Amit Shah arrived in Jammu and Kashmir to monitor the situation on ground after the attack. He met the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Srinagar. He also visited the spot where the brutal attack took place on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also cut short his trip to Saudi Arabia and returned to India after the attack. Immediately on his arrival from Saudi Arabia, PM Modi took a briefing meeting at the airport with national security advisory, external affairs minister, foreign secretary to discuss the situation in view of the Pahalgam terror attack, PTI news agency reported.