Indian Army officer Colonel Sofia Qureshi speaks during a press briefing in this undated photo. — NDTV
Vijay Shah, a Madhya Pradesh minister and a senior BJP leader, faced severe criticism for calling Indian Army officer Colonel Sofia Qureshi “sister of the same community as terrorists”.
Shah bowed down to the sharp criticism from Indians who sought an apology for his remarks against Col Qureshi. She conducted press briefings on India’s Operation Sindoor.
According to the Indian media, the BJP leader said in a gathering: “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 Modi ji sent the sisters of their community to strip them and teach them a lesson.”
The BJP minister issued an apology and said that if anyone is hurt by his statement, he is ready to apologise ten times, adding that he respects Colonel Qureshi more than his sister, Hindustan Times reported.
The Indian opposition slammed Shah and demanded his immediate removal from MP’s cabinet.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said: “A minister of the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh has made a very derogatory, shameful and cheap remark about our brave daughter Colonel Sofia Qureshi.”
“The terrorists of Pahalgam wanted to divide the country, but the country was united during entire ‘Operation Sindoor’ to give a befitting reply to the terrorists,” Kharge posted on X.
The MP Congress Committee alleged that Shah’s “indecent’ and hate-filled statement is not just a personal attack, but an open attack on India’s military dignity, national unity, and women’s honour, the report stated.
Colonel Qureshi is an Indian Army officer who joined the Indian Army Corps of Signals in 1999 and rose to prominence in 2016 as the first woman officer to lead a multinational military exercise.
Shah has not only faced criticism from the opposition but also from his own party, as he was summoned by the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh general secretary Hitanand Sharma to the state headquarters in Bhopal.
According to the reports, Sharma reprimanded Shah, who also met the state BJP president, Vishnu Dutt Sharma.
