During a special discussion on Operation Sindoor in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Opposition MPs Tiruchi Siva (DMK) and Sanjay Singh (AAP) launched sharp attacks on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their continued silence over controversial remarks made by Madhya Pradesh minister Kunwar Vijay Shah against Indian Army officer Col Sofiya Qureshi. They alleged that the silence from the top leadership amounted to implicit approval of the offensive statements.
Tiruchi Siva, referring to Col Qureshi as a "great lady", condemned the minister’s remarks and expressed outrage that a woman of such courage and honour was likened to terrorists. “How was she being portrayed? She was equated with the sisters of militants and terrorists in Pakistan,” Siva said. He pointed out that even the judiciary had strongly criticised such statements and questioned why no action had been taken by the BJP or the Prime Minister.
“Did your party condemn this? Did your Prime Minister – the leader of this nation – condemn such remarks? Nothing was said,” Siva added. He stressed that Col Qureshi was a "proud woman" and the insinuations made against her were deeply communal and offensive. “Just because she is a Muslim, she is being called a sister of a terrorist, and yet you have not expressed a word of resentment,” he said.
Referring to Kunwar Vijay Shah, Siva remarked, “He is still a minister. So you can do whatever you want? He continues to remain in office, and so you are effectively endorsing his remarks.” He urged the ruling party not to communalise national issues and criticised their tendency to justify controversial statements. “Silence is sometimes acceptance. Tolerance is not incapability, it is patience,” he stated.
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AAP MP Sanjay Singh echoed these sentiments, saying that while the nation was asked to honour and applaud the courage of its soldiers during Operation Sindoor, the government’s own minister insulted one of the brave officers. “We bowed our heads in respect to our soldiers, we applauded their bravery. But what did you do?” Singh asked. “Your own BJP minister from Madhya Pradesh called Col Sofiya Qureshi, a proud daughter of the Indian Army, a sister of terrorists.”
Col Qureshi, along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, had come to national attention during press briefings on Operation Sindoor, becoming symbolic of India’s military resolve. Singh also criticised the government’s inaction over the online abuse faced by the daughter of India’s Foreign Secretary. The attacks were so severe that the Foreign Secretary had to lock his account on the social media platform X. “You are not even able to protect your own people,” Singh said.
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RJD MP AD Singh also weighed in, stating that several terror incidents — from Kargil to the recent Pahalgam attack — have taken place due to intelligence failures. He questioned the effectiveness of the Operation Sindoor strikes, claiming that only vacant buildings were hit and that it was possible no terrorists were actually killed.
AIADMK leader M Thambidurai, however, supported the operation, describing it as a well-planned and deliberate move that hit the enemy hard. He said Pakistan was forced to seek a ceasefire only after sustaining heavy damage from India's strikes. In a light-hearted remark, he dismissed any credibility in former US President Donald Trump's statements. “Trump stories... even people in the US don’t believe what he says, that’s a real fact,” he quipped.
Nominated MP and former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla stated that the precision strikes carried out under Operation Sindoor had successfully eliminated over 100 terrorists. He noted that major international groupings, including QUAD and BRICS, as well as countries like Saudi Arabia, had spoken in support of India. Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha also praised India’s evolving strategy against terror, pointing out that earlier India only exchanged dossiers with Pakistan. “Now we strike deep into enemy territory to avenge acts of terror,” he said.
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