'Disparaging to armed forces': Court orders FIR over remarks against Sofiya Qureshi

Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered immediate FIR registration and case against BJP Minister Vijay Shah over insulting remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.

In Short

• Vijay Shah made insulting remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi
• High Court directs police to file FIR within four hours
• Congress demands minister's dismissal, questions BJP's silence

Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the police to register an FIR against state tribal affairs minister and BJP leader Vijay Shah for his "disparaging and dangerous" remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.

The bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla held that the comment made by Shah was "disparaging and dangerous, not just to the officer in question, but to the armed forces itself".

The development came a day after a viral clip showed Shah making insulting remarks against Qureshi, who was among the officials representing the armed forces during the briefing on Operation Sindoor, causing a huge uproar. While speaking at a government event on Tuesday, Shah had said that the Prime Minister had sent a “sister from the same community” as those in Pakistan to avenge the April 22 terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

“Modi ji is striving for society. Those who widowed our daughters [in Pahalgam], we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson,” he said.

The Court found Vijay Shah prima facie liable for offences under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita (BNS), including section 196 - which deals with actions that promote enmity between different groups.

"Prima facie, the statement of the minister...encourages feelings of separatist activities by imputing separatist feelings to anyone who is Muslim, which thereby endangers the sovereignty or unity and integrity of India," the court observed.

"...Colonel Sofiya Qureshi is an adherent of the Muslim faith and deriding her by referring to her as the sister of terrorists may be prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious groups, as it has the propensity to fuel an impression that, irrespective of the selfless duties of a person towards India, such a person could still be derided only because that person belongs to the Muslim faith," the court further said.

The bench directed the police to take immediate action and register an FIR against Vijay Shah. It also warned that if the FIR is not registered by Wednesday evening, the court "may contemplate proceeding against the Director General of Police of the State for contempt of this Order" when the matter is taken up on Thursday.

The case is scheduled to be heard on May 15 on an urgent basis.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari said that he had already filed a complaint against Shah over his objectionable remarks.

Questioning the BJP's silence on the issue, he said, "In his address to the nation, PM Modi said that he salutes the valour of the armed forces, and he also said that the whole country stands in support of the armed forces in this difficult time... A minister from Madhya Pradesh insulted the officers of the army and sisters... Why is the BJP silent on this?"

"If he is not dismissed within 24 hours, we will lodge an FIR against Kunwar Vijay Shah in all the police stations of the country," he added.

OPPOSITION QUESTIONS BJP'S SILENCE

The opposition parties slammed the BJP over the controversial remarks made by Minister Vijay Shah and have questioned the party's silence on the matter.

Congress secretary Jairam Ramesh has questioned why the Prime Minister has not yet sacked the minister.
"Why has the PM not yet sacked the Madhya Pradesh Minister who made the most disgraceful and totally unacceptable remarks against Col. Sofiya Qureshi? It is not enough for the National Commission on Women to deplore these remarks. The Minister's atrocious remarks reflect the BJP's diseased mindset really," he wrote on X.

Rajya Sabha member and TMC leader Sagarika Ghose also slammed the BJP saying that this is the 'REAL face of BJP'.

"Not a word from the BJP top leadership. This is the ‘REAL’ face of the BJP under garb of so called fake “nationalism.” Will Narendra Modi and BJP leadership sack the foul mouthed mantri? Or stay quiet?" she wrote on X.