The Congress party on Tuesday slammed Madhya Pradesh Minister and BJP leader Vijay Shah for his “derogatory” remarks against Colonel Sophia Qureshi, referring to her as the “sister of terrorists”.
The Congress shared a clip of Shah’s speech at a Halma event in Raikunda village, Mahu (Indore district), where he is heard saying in Hindi, “Unhone (aatankwadiyon) humari behan-betiyon ke sindoor ujaade the, wahi kate-pite logon ko, humne unhi ki behan bhejkar unki aisi ki taisi karwai.” Which roughly trasnlates to, “They [terrorists] had disrespected our sisters and daughters by wiping off their sindoor. We sent their own sister to give them a befitting reply.”)
PM
Sharing the video, the Congress party wrote,”‘Colonel Sophia Qureshi is the sister of terrorists’—this disgraceful statement was made by Vijay Shah, a minister in the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh. Every Indian takes pride in Colonel Sophia Qureshi, a daughter of India, yet such a shameful remark has been made about her. She has been labelled the sister of terrorists. This is an insult to our valiant armed forces.”
Questioning the controversial statement, the Congress further asked, “Given that Vijay Shah claims to be a close associate of Narendra Modi and calls him his mentor, will the BJP demand his resignation? Will PM Modi and BJP leaders apologise for this vile mindset? Or, as always, will Vijay Shah be rewarded for this deplorable mentality, with rallies held in his support?”
The video of the BJP minister’s speech has gone viral on social media, drawing widespread criticism for his derogatory comments against an Army officer.
Though Shah did not name any individual while praising PM Modi for India’s strong retaliation against terrorists in Pakistan, his remarks were widely interpreted as an indirect reference to Colonel Sophia Qureshi. She became the face of Operation Sindoor after presenting India’s perspective to the world regarding its response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
