Colonel Sofiya Qureshi on the left and Kunwar Vijay Shah with MP HC in the background
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday, May 14, ordered the Director General of Police (DGP) to register an FIR against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and tribal affairs minister Kunwar Vijay Shah for his objectionable remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
Taking cognisance of the matter, the High Court directed DGP Kailash Makwana to register a case against Shah under sections 152, 196 1 (B), and 197 of BNS.
Justice Atul Sridharan of the MP High Court said that prima facie, the minister Vijay Shah made out an offence of promoting enmity between different castes, religion and language. He further stated that referring to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi as a “sister of terrorists” is an offence of hurting the sentiments and faith of the Muslim community.
Justice Sridharan ordered that a case against BJP minister Vijay Shah should be registered by Wednesday evening.
On Tuesday, May 13, while referring to the Pahalgam attack, the BJP minister said, “Those who widowed our daughters, we sent a sister of their own [Col. Sofia Qureshi] to teach them a lesson.”
In a video of him speaking at a government function near Mhow, the BJP minister remarked that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have used the same tactics as the terrorists, by demanding that the victims show physical proof they were not Muslims.
“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,” Shah said, followed by applause from the audience.
Shah’s comments on the senior Army officer sparked controversy, with many calling his statements an insult to women and the armed forces.
Later, Kunwar Vijay Shah stated that his statements were taken in the wrong context. “Some people are taking my statement in a different context. I did not mean it that way. She (Col. Qureshi) is my sister and she has avenged the acts of the terrorists,” he said.
Colonel Sofia Qureshi, along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force, briefed the media and the international community about Operation Sindoor, launched on April 7 as India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Qureshi has a distinguished military career with many firsts to herself. In 2016, she became the first Indian woman to lead an all-male contingent in a multinational military exercise.
(With inputs from IANS)
This post was last modified on May 14, 2025 6:56 pm