Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 13: The Congress has demanded sacking of the Madhya Pradesh tribal affairs minister Vijay Shah for making derogatory remarks against the “face” of the valiant “Operation Sindoor” Army Colonel Sofiya Qureshi by referring to her as a “sister of Pakistani terrorists.”
Mr Shah sparked a major controversy by referring Colonel Qureshi, one of the officers who led the government briefings on Operation Sindoor. A woman from the same community as the people in Pakistan, the minister said, had been sent to strip the terrorists naked.
Speaking at a cultural event in Mhow aimed at promoting ‘Halma’ – a traditional Bhil tribal practice of community cooperation and voluntary labour – on Tuesday, Mr Shah said in Hindi, “There should be ‘Halma’ in every hut and in every head. ‘Halma’ means living for others, living for society, just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing. They (referring to terrorists) had taken away the sindoor of our sisters and daughters, and we sent their own sister to give it back to them in kind.”
“They undressed Hindus and killed them, and Modi ji sent their sister to return the favour. We couldn’t undress them, so we sent a daughter from their community… You widowed sisters of our community, so a sister of your community will strip you naked. Modiji proved that the daughters of your caste can be sent to Pakistan to take revenge,” the minister added.
The audience, including several BJP leaders on stage, responded with loud applause. Among those present were Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur, MLA and former Cabinet minister Usha Thakur, and representatives from local panchayats and municipal bodies.
Mr Shah also praised PM Modi for bringing in the Russian S-400 mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, which is seen as having played a key role in fending off the waves of drones and missiles that were fired by Pakistan after India’s precision strikes on terror bases in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Senior members of the Congress, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, termed the BJP leader’s remarks an insult to the armed forces and women and demanded that he be sacked. The minister then issued a clarification and said his remarks had been taken out of context.
Mr Kharge slammed the minister for his “insulting, shameful and vulgar” remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and demanded that Prime Minister Modi sack him immediately. Mr Kharge also pointed to the trolling of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and his daughter as well as Himanshi Narwal – the wife of 26-year-old Navy officer Vinay Narwal who was killed in the Pahalgam terror attack – for her remarks urging people not to target Muslims or Kashmiris, and blamed the “BJP-RSS mindset” for it.
“The terrorists of Pahalgam wanted to divide the country, but the country was united throughout ‘Operation Sindoor’ in giving a befitting reply to the terrorists,” Mr Kharge wrote in Hindi on X. “The mentality of BJP-RSS has always been anti-women. First, they trolled the wife of the naval officer martyred in Pahalgam on social media, then harassed the daughter of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and now BJP ministers are making such indecent comments about our braveheart Sofiya Qureshi. Modi ji should immediately dismiss the minister,” he said.
Echoing Mr Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Umang Singhar said: “The statement made by Minister Vijay Shah about a senior Army officer is not only shameful but also an insult to both the armed forces and women. An Army officer or a soldier does not belong to any religion. They are not identified as Hindu or Muslim. They have only one religion, which is the nation.”
“Such language reflects the BJP’s mindset. This statement is highly condemnable, and I strongly denounce it. Vijay Shah must immediately apologise,” he added.
Madhya Pradesh Congress Chief Jitu Patwari also hit out at the BJP over Mr Shah’s remarks and demanded that he be sacked. “The BJP must immediately clarify – does it endorse the vile mindset of Vijay Shah?” @DrMohanYadav51: Answer the people! @narendramodi: Sack the minister!” Mr Patwari wrote in Hindi on X.
Facing backlash after the video went viral, the minister said some people are interpreting his speech the wrong way. “The Prime Minister has responded to those who tried to wipe off the sindoor of our sisters in their own language. My speech should not be viewed out of context. Some people are interpreting it differently. They are our sisters and they have worked with full strength alongside the Army,” said Mr Shah.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “Completely unpardonable. These pseudo-nationalists have no respect for our brave armed forces. Will @PMOIndia & @JPNadda take action against this BJP minister?”
Congress leader and former MP Danish Ali also shared a video of the BJP leader’s purported remarks. “This statement is a reflection of anti-national mentality. People of the BJP find religion even in army uniforms. Colonel Sofiya Qureshi is the daughter of India, the pride of the army. The minister who is calling her ‘sister of terrorists’ is insulting the entire Indian Army. This is poisonous fanaticism,” he said.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force were the two prominent faces of media briefings, sitting beside Foreign Secretary Misri to share details about India’s Operation Sindoor. She is a distinguished officer in the Indian Army’s Corps of Signals, a branch responsible for managing critical military communication systems.
In 2016, Colonel Qureshi made history by becoming the first Indian woman to command an Army contingent in a major international military exercise. She led a 40-member Indian team at Exercise Force 18, a multinational exercise held in Pune that focused on peacekeeping and humanitarian mine-clearing operations.