MP minister calls Col Sofiya ‘sister of terrorists’; sparks row

Highlights

Kharge demands Modi to sack the state BJP minister

New Delhi/Indore: Madhya Pradesh minister and BJP leader Vijay Shah has sparked a major controversy with objectionable comments that appeared to be directed at Col Sofia Qureshi, whom he tried to project as a 'sister of terrorists'.

Under severe flak, Shah said if anyone is hurt by his statement, he is ready to apologise ten times, adding that he respects Col Qureshi more than his sister.

The Congress has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Shah from the Madhya Pradesh Cabinet forthwith.

Col Qureshi had conducted regular press briefings, sharing details of the ‘Operation Sindoor’ launched by Indian armed forces to strike terrorists, joined by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.

“Those people (terrorists) who had wiped out sindoor (vermilion) of our sisters (in the Pahalgam terror attack)… We avenged these ‘kate-pite’ people by sending their sister to destroy them,” Shah said.

“They (terrorists) killed our Hindu brothers by making them remove their clothes. PM Modi ji responded by sending their (terrorists’) sister in an Army plane to strike them in their houses. They (terrorists) made our sisters widows, so Modiji sent the sister of their community to strip them and teach them a lesson,” the BJP leader said, while addressing a gathering in Ramkunda village near Indore.

He said, “Revenge was taken for the honour of our country (India), respect, and for the (slain) husbands of our sisters by sending a sister from your (terrorists’) community to Pakistan”. However, the Tribal welfare minister later clarified that his remarks should not be construed otherwise.

Shah’s remarks drew wide-scale condemnation, with the Congress demanding his immediate dismissal from the MP Cabinet. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Shah should be dismissed immediately. “A minister of the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh has made a very derogatory, shameful and cheap remark about our brave daughter Col Sofia Qureshi. The terrorists of Pahalgam wanted to divide the country, but the country was united during the entire ‘Operation Sindoor’ to give a befitting reply to the terrorists,” Kharge posted on X.

He alleged that the BJP-RSS harbours an anti-women mentality. “First, the wife of the naval officer martyred in Pahalgam was trolled on social media, then the daughter of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was harassed, and now the BJP ministers are making such indecent comments about our brave woman Sophia Qureshi,” Kharge said and appealed to Modi to immediately sack Shah.

Amid the raging controversy, the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh general secretary Hitanand Sharma summoned Shah to the state headquarters in Bhopal. According to sources, Sharma reprimanded the minister, who also met state BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma.