Oppn attacks BJP, PM for inaction over MP minister’s remarks on Col Qureshi

New Delhi: Opposition Rajya Sabha members Tiruchi Siva and Sanjay Singh on Tuesday hit out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their inaction over remarks by a Madhya Pradesh minister on Indian Army officer Col Sofiya Qureshi, saying their silence is an approval of the statement.

Participating in a special discussion on Operation Sindoor in the Rajya Sabha, Siva (DMK) and Singh (AAP) brought up the issue of remarks by Madhya Pradesh minister Kunwar Vijay Shah in the backdrop of Operation Sindoor on Col Qureshi that sparked outrage.

Dubbing Col Qureshi as a “great lady”, Siva said, “How was she being interpreted? She was likened to the

sister of militants, the terrorists in Pakistan.”

Asserting that even the courts have condemned it, he said, “Did your party condemn it? Did your prime minister, did the leader who leads the nation, condemn that? It should not be done.”

Siva said Col Qureshi “is a proud woman” and “just because she is Muslim she is called a sister of a

terrorist and you have not expressed a word of resentment against it.”

Referring to Shah, Siva said, “He is still a minister. So, you can do whatever you want?...He is continuing (as minister). So you are approving it.”

Asking the BJP to not “communalise each and everything”, Siva said, “Don’t talk whatever you want and then justify it in your own manner. Yes, silence is sometimes acceptance and tolerance is not incapability, it is patience.”

Similarly, Singh said, “Our government asked us to applaud our brave soldiers, we did that. You asked us to bow to honour them and we bowed. What did you do? Your minister of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh says the Indian Army’s brave daughter Col Sofiya Qureshi is the sister of terrorists!”

Col Qureshi had gained nationwide prominence along with another woman officer, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, during the media briefings on Operation Sindoor.

The AAP member also pointed out that the government did not take any action when there was an online attack with “so much objectionable comments” on the daughter of India’s foreign secretary, who ultimately had to lock his account on social media platform X.

“You can’t even protect your own people,” Singh said.

RJD member AD Singh said the incidents from Kargil to Pahalgam took place due to intelligence failure.