The Crossbill News Desk
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday (May 14) ordered the immediate registration of a police case against state cabinet minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kunwar Vijay Shah over a derogatory comment allegedly directed at Colonel Sofia Qureshi, a senior Indian Army officer.
The court took suo motu cognisance of the remarks, describing them as "dangerous" and potentially harmful to national integrity.
A division bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla issued the directive while referring to Shah’s inflammatory statements made at a public gathering near Ramkund village in Indore district. During the event, Shah made repeated references to a “sister of terrorists” allegedly sent by the Indian government to retaliate against enemies — a remark widely interpreted as a veiled attack on Colonel Qureshi, who has been in the public eye for her role in briefing the media about Operation Sindoor, India's response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
“His comments are dangerous as now they have started reaching the armed forces of this country,” observed Justice Sreedharan, according to legal news portal Bar and Bench.
The bench directed the immediate filing of an FIR under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including Section 152, which criminalises acts endangering India’s sovereignty and unity, and Section 196, which relates to promoting enmity between groups on religious grounds.
During the speech, Shah, referring to the Pahalgam attack, claimed: “Those who wiped out the vermilion of our daughters, we avenged them by sending their sister to destroy them.”
He further alleged, “They killed our Hindu brothers, and Modiji responded by sending their own sister in an Army aircraft to strike them in their homes.”
The repeated phrase “unki behen” (their sister) was widely perceived as a communal and gendered insult, with the target understood to be Colonel Qureshi, a Muslim officer.
The comments triggered a political storm. The Congress party released video clips of the speech and accused Shah of making “extremely insulting, shameful, and cheap” remarks against a decorated officer.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the statement in a post on X, saying, “The mentality of BJP-RSS has been anti-woman. First, the wife of a martyred naval officer in Pahalgam was trolled on social media, then the daughter of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was harassed, and now a BJP minister is making such indecent remarks about our heroine Sofia Quraishi.”
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) welcomed the court order to file an FIR against the BJP Minister.
“Stop protecting hate-monger MP minister, Vijay Shah. Sack him now,” the party demanded.
The National Commission for Women also denounced the remarks, calling it “extremely unfortunate” that such statements were coming from individuals holding public office.
In response to the backlash, Shah issued an apology, saying he regretted his words and respected Colonel Qureshi “more than his sister.” He also claimed that his remarks were misrepresented by sections of the media.
However, the high court remained firm. When the advocate general, Prashant Singh, sought more time to comply with the order, Justice Sreedharan warned of consequences for non-compliance.
“I shall take no excuse. Ensure that it is done. Otherwise I can assure you, I promise, the State would face extreme embarrassment and I couldn't care less,” the judge stated, even threatening contempt proceedings if an FIR was not filed by 6 PM Wednesday.
Colonel Qureshi, along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, has been the face of the armed forces during recent briefings on India’s military response to the Pahalgam attack. The bench noted that Shah’s comments not only harmed the reputation of a senior officer but also had the potential to encourage separatist sentiment and communal discord.
This incident is not the first controversy for Shah, who is a long-time MLA from the Scheduled Tribe-reserved Harsud seat.
In 2022, he made headlines for calling previous Prime Ministers “ghoda, gadha and haathi chhaap,” implying they were ineffective. In 2013, he was forced to resign temporarily after allegedly making a sexist remark about the wife of then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The matter is scheduled to be heard again on Thursday, with the court expected to issue a detailed order.
The court took suo motu cognisance of the remarks, describing them as "dangerous" and potentially harmful to national integrity.
A division bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla issued the directive while referring to Shah’s inflammatory statements made at a public gathering near Ramkund village in Indore district. During the event, Shah made repeated references to a “sister of terrorists” allegedly sent by the Indian government to retaliate against enemies — a remark widely interpreted as a veiled attack on Colonel Qureshi, who has been in the public eye for her role in briefing the media about Operation Sindoor, India's response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
“His comments are dangerous as now they have started reaching the armed forces of this country,” observed Justice Sreedharan, according to legal news portal Bar and Bench.
The bench directed the immediate filing of an FIR under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including Section 152, which criminalises acts endangering India’s sovereignty and unity, and Section 196, which relates to promoting enmity between groups on religious grounds.
During the speech, Shah, referring to the Pahalgam attack, claimed: “Those who wiped out the vermilion of our daughters, we avenged them by sending their sister to destroy them.”
He further alleged, “They killed our Hindu brothers, and Modiji responded by sending their own sister in an Army aircraft to strike them in their homes.”
The repeated phrase “unki behen” (their sister) was widely perceived as a communal and gendered insult, with the target understood to be Colonel Qureshi, a Muslim officer.
The comments triggered a political storm. The Congress party released video clips of the speech and accused Shah of making “extremely insulting, shameful, and cheap” remarks against a decorated officer.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the statement in a post on X, saying, “The mentality of BJP-RSS has been anti-woman. First, the wife of a martyred naval officer in Pahalgam was trolled on social media, then the daughter of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was harassed, and now a BJP minister is making such indecent remarks about our heroine Sofia Quraishi.”
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) welcomed the court order to file an FIR against the BJP Minister.
“Stop protecting hate-monger MP minister, Vijay Shah. Sack him now,” the party demanded.
The National Commission for Women also denounced the remarks, calling it “extremely unfortunate” that such statements were coming from individuals holding public office.
In response to the backlash, Shah issued an apology, saying he regretted his words and respected Colonel Qureshi “more than his sister.” He also claimed that his remarks were misrepresented by sections of the media.
However, the high court remained firm. When the advocate general, Prashant Singh, sought more time to comply with the order, Justice Sreedharan warned of consequences for non-compliance.
“I shall take no excuse. Ensure that it is done. Otherwise I can assure you, I promise, the State would face extreme embarrassment and I couldn't care less,” the judge stated, even threatening contempt proceedings if an FIR was not filed by 6 PM Wednesday.
Colonel Qureshi, along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, has been the face of the armed forces during recent briefings on India’s military response to the Pahalgam attack. The bench noted that Shah’s comments not only harmed the reputation of a senior officer but also had the potential to encourage separatist sentiment and communal discord.
This incident is not the first controversy for Shah, who is a long-time MLA from the Scheduled Tribe-reserved Harsud seat.
In 2022, he made headlines for calling previous Prime Ministers “ghoda, gadha and haathi chhaap,” implying they were ineffective. In 2013, he was forced to resign temporarily after allegedly making a sexist remark about the wife of then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The matter is scheduled to be heard again on Thursday, with the court expected to issue a detailed order.
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