Who is Zameer Ahmed Khan, Karnataka minister who offered to turn into a suicide bomber against Pakistan?

Karnataka housing and minorities welfare minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan on Friday stirred up a controversy by saying that he is ready to go to Pakistan with a bomb strapped on him.

His statement, which comes in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam and the rising tension between India and Pakistan, quickly went viral.

“Pakistan has always been India’s enemy,” Khan said, brimming with emotion. “If Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah allow me, I’m ready to go to Pakistan with a suicide bomb strapped to me and launch an attack.”

The minister added that he was willing to sacrifice his life for the country and urged the Centre to take decisive action. While everyone around Khan burst into laughter, he added: “I am not joking or saying this in a funny way, but I am very serious about it.”

He also criticised the Pahalgam attack, calling it a “barbaric and inhuman act” and urged Indians to unite.

Who is BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan?

1. BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan is a senior Indian politician from Karnataka, currently serving as the Cabinet Minister for Housing, Waqf, and Minority Welfare in the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government.
2. Zameer Ahmed Khan represents the Chamrajpet constituency in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
3. According to information available on the web, he began his political journey with the Janata Dal (Secular) and was elected MLA from Chamrajpet in 2005, a seat he has held since.
4. He served multiple terms with JD(S) before switching to Congress in 2018, along with six other JD(S) MLAS.
5. Last year, the minister was at the centre of a controversy for his racist slur against Union minister and JD leader HD Kumaraswamy.
6. Later in the year, he was also summoned by the Lokayukta police in connection with a disproportionate assets case. The ED had raided Khan way back in August 2021.