Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged leaders at a recent NDA meeting not to speak “out of turn” after their remarks on Operation Sindoor landed the party in a political quagmire, another person associated with the party has courted controversy. BJP MLC and Chief Whip of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, N Ravikumar, has said that the District Collector of Kalaburagi “seems to be from Pakistan”. He also alleged that the IAS officer was functioning under the influence of the ruling Congress government.
Ravikumar’s remark was made during a protest rally organised by the BJP on May 24 as part of its “Kalaburagi Chalo” campaign. The protest was to demand the removal of Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge from the state Cabinet following the Chittapur incident. On May 21, Congress workers allegedly laid siege to a guest house in Chittapur where the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanswamy, was staying.
“The Kalaburagi DC 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 can be heard saying in a now-viral video.
Hateful remarks against a Muslim IAS officer, DC of Kalaburagi, @DCKalaburagi @Fouzia_Taranum by BJP MLC N Ravikumar : "I don't know whether the Kalaburagi DC has come from Pakistan or is an IAS officer here. Looking at your applause, It seems like the DC has indeed come from… pic.twitter.com/GJPScuWYX1
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 26, 2025
Fauzia Tarannum currently serves as the District Collector of Kalaburagi under the Congress-led state government.
Political leaders react to ‘Pakistan’ comment
Congress leader and state minister Sharan Prakash Patil accused BJP leaders of “provoking communal tensions”. “This is a deliberate attempt to provoke and communalise the atmosphere.
Such statements against an officer performing her duties are unacceptable,” ANI quoted Patil as saying.
Congress’s Mehroz Khan also “condemned” the remarks, and said, “Police must take action against this hate monger, uncivilised public representative Ravi for calling one Indian Muslim officer Pakistani.”
Afsar Kodlipet, State General Secretary, SDPI Karnataka, also reacted to the BJP MLC’s remarks. “The statement made by the BJP MLC accusing an officer, who is dutifully serving the public with faith in the administrative system, of having links with Pakistan is uncivilized and highly condemnable,” he said, before adding, “A case of sedition must be filed and MLC Ravikumar must be arrested for his comments.”
Social media reactions
“Shameful and communal!” said one social media user. He added, “BJP MLC N Ravikumar’s hateful jibe at IAS officer Dr Fouzia Taranum, DC of Kalaburagi, questioning if she’s from Pakistan, is a direct attack on India’s civil services and secular ethos.”
The X (formerly Twitter) further said, “Targeting a Muslim officer for applause is bigotry, not politics.”
“Derogatory remarks against Fouzia Taranum, a decorated officer who was honoured by the Hon’ble President of India,” said another.
“This is a vile communal slur. This is not politics, this is hate-mongering,” yet another social media user expressed.
What did Vijay Shah say?
BJP Minister Vijay Shah was addressing a public event in Madhya Pradesh, where he was praising PM Modi and India’s Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. He, however, tagged Colonel Sofiya Qureshi as the “sister of terrorists”, which caused quite a stir.
“Those who wiped the vermilion off our daughters’ foreheads… we sent their sister to teach them a lesson. They undressed Hindus and killed them, and Modi ji sent their sister to return the favour,” he said at the event.
Following the backlash, he issued a video apology, saying that Col Qureshi means more to him than his real sister and that his comments should not be taken in a “different context”. The Supreme Court dismissed his apology as “crocodile tears”.
“I sincerely apologise to the entire Indian Army, sister Colonel Sofiya and all the countrymen. The words spoken by me have hurt our community, religion and people of the nation. This was a linguistic mistake by me,” said Vijay Shah with folded hands in the video.
He added, “It was by mistake that I uttered those words… With folded hands, I again apologise to you.”
Another BJP member’s loose comments
Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra said that had women fought back, their husbands might still be alive, or they themselves would have become martyrs. He further criticised the victims’ families, saying they lacked the “passion and spirit” to resist the terrorists who claimed 26 lives.
Jangra said, “And if the brave women, our sisters there, whose vermilion was wiped off, had read the history of Ahilyabai, then no one could have shot their innocent husbands like that in front of them. Even if they had to become martyrs themselves. There was no passion, no spirit, no heart; that’s why they folded their hands and became victims of bullets.”
“Had they (tourists) fought, the casualties would have been fewer. They (terrorists) had come with the intention to kill people. They did not have mercy,” he added, saying that “tourists died with folded hands”.