PM Modi warns party leaders against making controversial remarks on Operation Sindoor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cautioned the leaders of his party who made several indiscreet remarks on Operation Sindoor, India’s precision strikes on the terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, sources have said.

At a meeting of chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of NDA-ruled states in Delhi, which he chaired, PM Modi advised that leaders avoid speaking on every issue and thereby making unnecessary statements, according to an NDTV report.

Courting controversy

Controversial statements of some BJP leaders regarding the Pahalgam terrorist attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor have made headlines in the recent past, leaving the party in an awkward situation.

Also read | Sexist jibes, row over Vidya Balan: MP minister Vijay Shah not new to controversies

Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah came under fire after a video, which was shared widely, showed him allegedly making objectionable remarks against Col Sofiya Qureshi, who gained nationwide prominence along with another woman officer, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, during media briefings on Operation Sindoor.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court earlier rebuked Shah for passing “scurrilous” remarks and using “language of the gutters” against Col Qureshi and ordered the police to register an FIR against him on the charge of promoting enmity and hatred.

After drawing severe condemnation, the minister expressed regret and said that he respected Col Qureshi more than his sister. The Supreme Court has rejected Shah's apology, saying it was only an attempt to wriggle out of the legal consequences.

BJP MP under fire

It didn’t end there as the party leaders continued to stoke controversy over the issue. BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra recently appeared to flay the women who lost their husbands in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. They became victims because they lacked heroic qualities, enthusiasm and zeal, the MP had said.

Addressing an event in Haryana’s Bhiwani, Jangra said: “The women who lost their husbands lacked the warrior spirit, enthusiasm and zeal... Terrorists do not spare anyone because they fold their hands. Our people died with folded hands... Had the tourists passed the (Agniveer) training, three terrorists could not have killed 26 people.”

Also read | Congress wants BJP MP fired for ‘Pahalgam tourists’ remark, seeks PM’s apology

Facing severe backlash, he later claimed that his remarks were distorted. In a video message, he said, “I do not treat women of my country weak in any manner... We stand with the women who lost their husbands in the Pahalgam attack, we stand with those families... Still, if I have hurt anyone's feelings, I have no hesitation in apologising.”