On Wednesday, the Madhya Pradesh High Court initiated a suo motu case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Kunwar Vijay Shah after his derogatory, sexist remarks targetted Colonel Sofia Qureshi.
The senior Indian Army officer, alongside Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, has fronted media briefings on Operation Sindoor. These conferences have also seen Foreign Secretary Vikram Sikri joining them.
High Court slams Kunwar Vijay Shah’s indirect mentions of Col Sofia Qureshi
The High Court pushed the state police chief to file a First Information Report against Tribal Affairs Minister of Madhya Pradesh Vijay Shah yesterday. Consequently, the Jabalpur High Court bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Anuradha Shukla slammed Shah’s “language of gutters” bringing down such a decorated Army officer. Branding these comments “dangerous” and “disparaging,” the Bench accused the MP minister of encouraging “feelings of separatist activities by imputing separatist feeling to anyone who is Muslim.”
“The armed forces, perhaps the last institution existing in this country, reflecting integrity, industry, discipline, sacrifice, selflessness, character, honour and indomitable courage… has been targetted by Mr Vijay Shah who has used the language of the gutters against Col Sofia Qureshi,” the court said, establishing that there was no mystery surrounding who his statement was alluding to.
What Vijay Shah said earlier
The latest Vijay Shah row broke out when the BJP minister said the terrorists had “wiped the sindoor of our sisters and daughter, and we sent their own sister to give it back to them in kind.”
“They stripped Hindus and killed them, and Modi-ji sent their sister to return the favour. We couldn’t undress them, so we sent a daughter from their community… You widowed sisters of our community, so a sister of your community will strip you naked. Modi-ji proved that the daughters of your caste can be sent to Pakistan to take revenge,” he went on at an event in Mhow.
As calls for dismissing Shah from his official post mounted, he issued a response to the controversy, saying his statement was taken out of context. Supposedly apologising for the matter, he said, “Colonel Sofiya Qureshi is more important than my sister to me because she rose above caste and community and took revenge. I did not intend any offence. Still, if anyone felt bad, I apologise not once but ten times.”
Severe repercussions Vijay Shah may face for inciting communal divide in his statements
The judges said, “The court is, prima facie, satisfied that the first offence made out against the minister was under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita,” which deals with any ‘act endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity.’
The Ministry of Home Affairs officially notes, “Whoever, purposely or knowingly, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or by electronic communication or by use of financial mean, or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite, secession or armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourages feelings of separatist activities or endangers sovereignty or unity and integrity of India; or indulges in or commits any such act shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
In addition to citing this section, the court discussed the application of the Section 196 of the Indian Penal Code, which addresses promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc, and and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.