Chikkamagaravalli Thimme Gowda Ravi is an Indian politician who is the current National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was a four-time legislator from Chikmagalur Constituency of Karnataka State from 2004 to 2023.

Ravi is known for his anti-Muslim and provocative statements. He is counted among the Hindu hardline leaders of the BJP, who has been at the forefront of the Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) movement in coastal Karnataka.

He is a habitual hate monger and has been indicted multiple times for his anti-Muslim hate speeches.

Ravi was booked under sections 153(A) and (B), 505 of IPC, and sub-clause 11 and 13 of clauses I and III of Model Code for promoting enmity amongst different communities. He made an ‘inflammatory’ speech against Muslims during an election rally at Sakleshpur in Hassan district, Karnataka in April 2009.

His love for violence is no secret. He publicly suggested that traitors (the term used by Hindu Nationalists to denote Muslims and those who do not conform to the divisive agenda of Hindu supremacism) be shot down. He tweeted, “Desh ke Gaddaro ko goli maro.”

Regarding the eighteenth-century Muslim ruler of Mysore and a prominent face of anti-British resistance in India, Tipu Sultan, Ravi said he was a “brutal killer, wretched fanatic & mass rapist.” He dared the government to invite him to the program that was being organized in Tipu Sultan’s memory.

He said, “If the Government prints my name on the invitation card, I will attend the function and raise slogans from the dais against Tipu. If Siddaramaiah has the guts, let him stop me.”

Multiple cases were registered against him for inciting communal violence during Tipu Jayanti (birth anniversary), celebrated by the state government.

During the 2019 protests against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Ravi threatened the protesting Muslims with Gujarat-like violence (referring to the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat) if they continued to dissent. He said, “People have given us a mandate for this reason. People who are protesting (against the CAA) are anti-democratic and against the constitution.”

“If you ( Muslims)  have forgotten about what happens when the majority loses patience, just look back at what happened after Godhra (riot). The majority here is capable of repeating it. Don’t test our patience,” he threatened.

He equated Muslim dietary habits with Jihad. He implored Hindus to inflict an economic boycott on Muslims by saying, “Halal ( foods permissible for Muslims to consume according to Islamic Law) is an economic Jihad. It means that it is used like a Jihad so Muslims should not do business with others. It has been imposed. When they think Halal meat should be used, what is wrong in saying it should not be used? Halal has been designed in a planned way so that the products should be purchased only from Muslims and not others.”

He rejects the constitution of India and says India is a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation). “India is, India was, and will be a Hindu Rashtra,” he says.

His staunch anti-Muslim bigotry couldn’t help him save his Chikmagalur MLA seat. He lost the election from his stronghold in the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections.