BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh tribal welfare minister Kunwar Vijay Shah has landed himself in a major controversy by making a rabidly communal remark about Colonel Sofia Qureshi.
The Indian Army officer had along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force had briefed the media through Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.
Addressing a public gathering during a government function in Mhow (Indore district) on Monday, the BJP leader praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership in responding to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. However, while doing so, he made a comment that has drawn sharp criticism.
Shah brought up Operation Sindoor and said that the prime minister had sent a “sister from the same community” as those in Pakistan to avenge the April 22 terror strike in Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
“Modi ji is striving for the society. Those who widowed our daughters (in Pahalgam), we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson,” Shah said to an applause from the audience.
Raking up how the terrorists in Pahalgam had apparently done physical checks on tourists to identify them by their religion and shoot them, Shah continued: “Now, Modi ji could not have done the same. So he sent a sister from their society—so that if you widowed our sisters, a sister of yours will come and undress you. And he [Modi] had said India will strike them in their own home.”
The controversial speech was made in Mhow, a region that holds strategic military significance as the location of a major army base.
Political Backlash
The opposition Congress reacted strongly. Sharing the video clip on social media platform ‘X’, it accused Shah of calling Indian Army officers “sisters of terrorists,” a statement it said insults not just women in uniform but the entire armed forces.
“The brave daughters of our army are sisters of terrorists — this disgusting utterance has been made by MP minister Vijay Shah. This is an insult to our mighty army,” the Congress post read.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari demanded Shah’s immediate dismissal from the state cabinet. “If the chief minister fails to sack Shah, it will be seen as the state cabinet endorsing his indecent and communal remarks,” Patwari stated.
Facing mounting pressure and public outrage, Shah issued a clarification on Tuesday, claiming his words were misunderstood. “I come from a military family background, with members who were martyred in Kargil. If my comments, spoken in anger over the killings in Pahalgam, hurt anyone, I apologize,” he said.
He went on to praise Colonel Sofia Qureshi directly, saying, “I salute sister Sofia who rose above caste and communal lines to make India proud. She is more respectable than my own sister.”
A History of Controversy
This is not the first time Shah has found himself at the center of a political storm. In April 2013, he resigned from his ministerial post amid allegations of making inappropriate remarks about women BJP leaders, including a reference to the wife of then CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
More recently, in March 2024, Shah sparked criticism for suggesting Bollywood actor and BJP MP Hema Malini be made the brand ambassador of India Post to attract deposits. “Make her the brand ambassador and then tell me, as we’re Hema Malini’s patthe (followers). We’ll pull all the poor people’s money from banks into the post office,” he had remarked during an event in Khandwa.
The controversy comes at a sensitive time for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, with local body elections approaching. While Shah’s remarks may galvanize some segments, they risk alienating others and may lead to further calls for disciplinary action from within the party and the public.