Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader and chief whip of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, N Ravikumar, made an insulting remark at a Muslim IAS female officer during a recent protest rally on May 24 as part of the party’s ‘Kalaburagi Chalo’ campaign.
A video emerged on Monday, May 26, showing Ravikumar allegedlly remarking that the district collector of Kalaburagi, Fauzia Tarannum, “came from Pakistan.”
“The Kalaburagi DC (district collector) office has also lost its independence. The DC madam is also listening to what they [Congress] say. I don’t know whether the DC has come from Pakistan or is an IAS officer here,” Ravikumar says in the video.
There has been no action against the BJP leader.
BJP has come under fire after its members on various occasions, deliberately made communal remarks especially targetting woman government employees of different religion.
Madhya Pradesh tribal affairs minister, Kunwar Vijay Shah, made an insulting statement on senior Indian Army officer, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, where, referring to Operation Sindoor, he said that PM Modi had sent a “sister from the same community” as those in Pakistan to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack.
“Now, Modi ji could not have done the same. So he sent a sister from their society, so that if you widowed our sisters, a sister of yours will come and undress you. And he [Modi] had said India will strike them in their own home,” Shah said in a video which went massively viral and drewe strong condemnation from the Opposition parties and starta of all society.
Qureshi is a senior decorated officer of the Indian Army.
His remarks reached the Supreme Court, which chided the BJP leader for his “crass” remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and constituted a three-member SIT team to probe the FIR lodged against him.
“The entire nation was in shame due to the comments… We saw your videos, you were on the verge of using very filthy language but somehow better sense prevailed or you did not find suitable words. You should be shameful. Entire country is proud of our Army and you made this statement,” the Supreme Court said.
The Karnataka police on May 26, registered an FIR against N Ravikumar, over his Islamophobic and casteist remarks targeting Kalaburgi deputy commissioner Fauzia Taranum. (Read the latest update here)
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