MP minister gets flak for remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi
On Tuesday, tribal affairs minister Vijay Shah apologised for the remarks after condemnation from the opposition and censure from his own party
A political row erupted in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday over tribal affairs minister Vijay Shah’s remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi –– one of the two women officers who briefed the nation on Operation Sindoor-- with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge describing the comments as “shameful and vulgar”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader’s controversial comments came at an event in Indore on Monday. On Tuesday, he apologised for the remarks after condemnation from the opposition and censure from his own party.
“Those who widowed our daughters, we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson,” Shah said in an apparent reference to Qureshi, She along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and foreign secretary Vikram Misri had briefed the media on multiple occasions since Operation Sindoor began. During the military operation, India hit nine terror targets inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7, in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror strike that killed 26 people, and subsequently pounded 11 air bases before a ceasefire was reached.
“The country’s honour and respect and the marital bliss of our sisters can be avenged by sending the sisters of your community to Pakistan,” he further said.
Kharge condemned the remarks, saying the mentality of BJP and its ideological fount Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has “always been anti-women”.
“A minister of the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh has made extremely insulting, shameful and vulgar remarks about our brave daughter Colonel Sofia Qureshi,” he said in a post on X, as he demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi dismiss Shah as a minister.
“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 Sofia Qureshi," he added.
State Congress unit chief Jitu Patwari also slammed the comments, saying, “BJP leaders should clear whether they are agreed to his cheap mentality or they will take action against him.”
Amid the ongoing row, Shah was reprimanded on Tuesday by BJP state organisational secretary Hitanand Sharma, said party leaders aware of the meeting.
After the closed-door meeting, Shah issued an apology. “I belong to a family of martyrs and armymen. I was emotional due to the Pahalgam incident. I am apologising if my words hurt someone and any community. Colonel Sofiya Qureshi is a pride of the nation and she is like my sister,” he said.
