Karnataka govt orders FIR against MP minister Vijay Shah over Colonel Sofiya remark

Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said that the FIR would be registered in Belagavi, the district where Colonel Sofiya’s in-laws reside

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Thursday directed the police to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Vijay Shah from Madhya Pradesh over his controversial remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, one of the two women officers who briefed the nation on Operation Sindoor..

The move follows an outrage over tribal affairs minister’s controversial comments at an event in Indore on Monday.

Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said that the FIR would be registered in Belagavi, the district where Colonel Sofiya’s in-laws reside. “Colonel Sofiya Qureshi is the daughter-in-law of Belagavi. Her husband hails from Belagavi. I have instructed the Belagavi SP to register an FIR and inform the Central government about taking appropriate action against the minister who made the statement,” he added.

The FIR is yet to be registered. The move follows an outrage over tribal affairs minister’s controversial comments at an event in Indore on Monday. “Those who widowed our daughters, we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson,” he said in apparent reference to Qureshi. On Tuesday, he apologised for the remarks after condemnation from the opposition and censure from his own party.

Parameshwara said Shah’s remarks are “not just an insult to her – it is an insult to our state and the entire country.” “No one should harbour such an attitude. It is not justifiable. Against this backdrop, we have given directions to initiate legal action to the concerned,” he added.

After the MP high court took suo motu cognisance of controversial remarks made, Shah was booked on charges of endangering sovereignty and promoting enmity between groups on Wednesday. The Supreme Court has also raised concerns about Shah’s comments.

Meanwhile, the police have ramped up security at Colonel Sofiya Qureshi’s in-laws’ village in Konnuru on Wednesday, after a misleading social media post falsely claimed the house was attacked and demolished by right-wing groups.

“Anis Hudeen, reportedly based in Canada, created the fake post and deleted it following intervention by the district’s social media monitoring team. We will deal with him strictly if he is from our nation,” Belagavi superintendent of police (SP) Bhimashankar Guled said.

The SP said that the house where Colonel Sofiya’s father-in-law Gous Bagewadi lives has been receiving numerous visitors after the army officer’s leadership in Operation Sindoor came to light. “Police are monitoring the premises and checking visitors for safety,” he added.

Bagewadi said the family was unfazed. “No one attacked our house, the post on social media is totally false,” he said, adding that the family was not afraid of any threats.

Born to a military family in Gujarat’s Vadodara and married to Konnuru native Tajuddin, has been widely praised for her role in the recent military operation. Col Quraishi was the first Indian woman officer to lead an Indian contingent and the only woman commander among 18 participating nations at the ASEAN Plus Multinational Military Exercise ‘Force 18’ in 2016.

The couple met while serving in the army and married in Vadodara in 2015. Bagewadi said that both were educated in government Kannada-medium schools and that the family was proud of her achievements.

“Our phones have not stopped ringing after people knew that Col Sofiya is from our family,” he said, adding “though she had planned to visit the family during Ramzan this year, Sofiya had to postpone the trip and assured them she would visit during Bakrid instead.”