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Communalism Hate Speech

Meet CT ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko goli maro’ Ravi, a repeat hate offender

The BJP leader has targeted minorities and women in the past  

CT Ravi

Many, especially those affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have seen the “desh ke gaddaro ko goli maro!” (shoot the traitors) remark by partyman Chikkamagaravalli Thimme Gowda Ravi as his reaction to the alleged “security breach” on the Prime Minister’s route in Punjab on Wednesday, December 5. The National general Secretary of the BJP is also a four-time MLA from Chikmagalur. But he is no ordinary partyman, as he is also the party appointed in charge of poll-bound Goa, apart from Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu, and has chosen to fuel various conspiracy theories now in poll-bound Punjab. 

The ‘goli maro’ slogan was first made famous by his fellow partyman Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma in January 2020, who had first used the slogan in a public meeting, “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro s***on ko” was a virtual war cry against people protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Since then, the hateful slogan has taken a life of its own, often chanted by right-wing mobs. It was used as recently as December 2021 by right-wing groups protesting namaz by Muslims in Gurugram.

It is well documented that CT Ravi, is a regular at such hate filled speeches against minorities, he is also publicly misogynist and shares regressive opinions on women. He has become more vocal once the BJP-led government took charge at the Centre, and he too got visibility due to the controversies he generated.

CT Ravi called for the “Gujarat model” in 2014

On July 27, 2014, CT Ravi, then a member of the BJP’s national executive, and general secretary of the party’s Karnataka unit, tweeted his opinion on the communal riots of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh saying, “Only the Gujarat model, that worked from 2002 in containing their rioting elements, can work. Apply across Bharat.” According to an Outlook report, the original tweet was deleted from his timeline. 

According to CT Ravi’s “explanation” to the media after the controversy gathered steam, his tweet referred “only to the Gujarat measures that helped stop the riots completely”. He had been at that time quoted by the New Indian Express and other publications as saying, “After the Godhra riots, no riots were reported from there. I was only suggesting similar measures be taken to contain communal violence across the country, including Saharanpur.”

Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh had witnessed a violent clash in 2014 between groups of Muslims and Sikhs. Three persons died and many were injured in the violence that broke out over an alleged land dispute. However, in 2020, in thanksgiving to the compassion shown by the Sikh community during the Delhi riots, the Muslim community from Saharanpur gave away their claim on the land given to them as part of settlement post Saharanpur riots. However, CT Ravi it appears is once again using communally loaded comments aimed at poll bound UP, and Punjab.

 

 

Ironically, it was Delhi-based lawyer Shehzad Poonawalla who was then associated with the Congress party and is now with the BJP who petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), accusing CT Ravi of “using social media to fan communal passions.” He responded to the complaint filed by Poonawalla, saying “I am ready to testify. I can’t help those who see everything with jaundiced eyes.” The two are now colleagues and CT Ravi amplifies Poonawalla’s tweets.

 

 

Accusing Punjab CM, citizens, Congress of endangering PM’s life

CT Ravi directly accused Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi saying he “betrayed Bharata Mata to please Sonia Mata.” Punjab will soon go to polls and CT Ravi has accused the Congress of “anti-National” acts, and stated that “Indians will never forget & forgive” it. He also said, “What happened in Bathinda today is unforgivable by any stretch of imagination. Indians will never forgive those who are responsible for such a serious lapse of security.” 

 

 

“Is the “secret meeting” of CONgress leader @RahulGandhi have any connection with what happened to PM Modi’s convoy in Punjab today?” he asked in another loaded Tweet.

 

 

CT Ravi’s opinion on women is well known too

According to him “Western influence, micro families” are to blame if “modern women want to stay single”. On World Mental Health Day, Karnataka minister K Sudhakar had said, “lots of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don’t want to give birth. They want surrogacy. So there is a paradigm shift in our thinking, which is not good.” Sudhakar made headlines for such a misogynistic remark instantly and CT Ravi decided to add his two bits on the subject and said, “Not every woman is like this. It is happening because of western influence and micro families. In India, we still have faith in family unlike countries such as USA and UK.”

Following the flak he got K Sudhakar was forced to issue a clarification saying, “It is unfortunate that a small part of my address out of the nineteen and a half minutes long speech during the World Mental Health Day programme at NIMHANS on Sunday was taken out of context and thereby, the larger point I was trying to make at the prestigious National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences was lost.” However, it is not known if CT Ravi apologised.

 

Related:

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“Shoot the traitors” slogans raised in Gurugram

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Hate Watch: Communal “shoot the traitors” slogans raised against Christians in Delhi

3 BJP workers arrested in Bengal for ‘goli maaro’ chants, why none arrested in Delhi, asks Mamata Banerjee

Pro-CAA group outside Jamia asks to ‘shoot the traitors’

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