3 min readBhopalMay 14, 2025 05:53 AM IST
First published on: May 13, 2025 at 07:00 PM IST
Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah has courted controversy after he said at an event that India has taught a lesson to those responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack using “their own sister”.
While he did not name any individual, the Congress alleged he was alluding to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had briefed the media when Operation Sindoor was underway.
Speaking at an event in Mahu on Tuesday, Shah said that those who had widowed India’s daughters were taught a lesson by Prime Minister Narendra Modi using their own sister “(unki samaaj ki behen ke zariye)”. He repeated this statement thrice.
When he came under fire later, he clarified, “Do not see my speech in a different context. I want to tell people that my speech is not in that context. They are our sisters, and they have taken revenge with great strength along with the armed forces.”
BJP spokesperson Shivam Shukla said, “The Congress is using a slip of tongue for political purposes. In the heated atmosphere such comments were made in the backdrop of Operation Sindoor. There is an atmosphere of pride sweeping across the country and people are elated. The Congress should not twist such statements made in such an atmosphere for political gains…”
The Madhya Pradesh Congress called Shah’s remarks shameful.
“The daughter of India, whom we all take pride in – this deranged and ignorant minister is calling her the sister of terrorists and from their community. This minister of (Chief Minister) Mohan Yadav is trying to suggest that the Indian Army has ties with terrorists,” said Congress spokesperson Abhinav Barolia.
In 2013, Shah had to resign from his post as tribal welfare minister after he allegedly made a sexist remark about then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s wife. He was eventually reinstated. He is an eight-time MLA from the Harsud constituency.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reacted to the remarks and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack Shah.
“A minister of the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh has made extremely insulting, shameful and vulgar remarks about our brave daughter Colonel Sofia Qureshi,” said Kharge.
The LOP in Rajya Sabha further said “the terrorists of Pahalgam wanted to divide the country, but the country was united throughout ‘Operation Sindoor’ in giving a befitting reply to the terrorists”.
“The mentality of BJP-RSS has always been anti-women. First, they trolled the wife of the naval officer martyred in Pahalgam on social media, then harassed the daughter of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and now BJP ministers are making such indecent comments about our braveheart Sofia Qureshi,” said Kharge.
Shah came under fire after a video, which was circulated widely, showed him allegedly making objectionable remarks against Col Qureshi (Photo: X/ @KrVijayShah) 
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