'Sick mindset': BJP slams Hamid Ansari for calling Ghazni 'Indian lootera'

Ansari referred to figures such as Mahmud Ghazni and members of the Lodi dynasty.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Congress over remarks attributed to former Vice President Hamid Ansari in which he described medieval rulers including Mahmud of Ghazni as Indian rather than foreign invaders.

Reacting to Ansari’s remarks, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the comment was “sick” and questioned the Congress leadership’s silence on the issue. He asked, “Does Rahul Gandhi agree with this statement?”

Trivedi said such remarks raised serious questions about the Congress party’s understanding of history and its ideological position, and demanded clarity from its leadership.

In a video clip shared on social media this week, Ansari was heard saying during an interview, “I have always said that the people we portray as foreign invaders in our history books … they were all Indian looteras … they didn’t come from outside.” He referred to figures such as Mahmud Ghazni and members of the Lodi dynasty.

Responding to the remarks, the BJP accused the Congress and its ecosystem of attempting to “whitewash” episodes of medieval invasions. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said on X that the party had repeatedly seen narratives that downplayed historical atrocities.

“The Congress ecosystem now appeared to eulogise figures like Ghazni, who destroyed and desecrated the Somnath Mandir … they oppose Somnath Swabhiman Parv, they whitewash crimes of Aurangzeb and those who did atrocities on Hindus,” he said.