Hate speech: BJP’s reluctance to part with Vijay Shah

THE groundswell of anger across the country after the Pahalgam terror attack has emboldened the troll army to reach new lows. Online abuse has been hurled at none other than Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. Even Himanshi Narwal, a massacre victim’s widow, was not spared after she sensibly urged people not to go after Muslims and Kashmiris. But there is a politician who has put even these shameless trolls to shame — Vijay Shah, a minister in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier this week, Shah made shockingly communal remarks about Col Sofiya Qureshi, the Army officer who held media briefings on Operation Sindoor along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh. The minister said the PM had sent “a sister of their own to teach a lesson” to those who “widowed our daughters”. Though the comments were made on Monday, an FIR was registered only on Wednesday night, and that too on the orders of the MP High Court. The HC castigated Shah for using “language of the gutters” against Col Qureshi. The FIR has forced him to seek relief from the Supreme Court, which has warned him that a minister should utter every word with a sense of responsibility at a time when the country is passing through “such a situation”. Shah has expressed regret and claimed that he respects Col Qureshi more than his own sister, but the damage has already been done. What’s worse is the reluctance of the BJP top brass to remove him from the state cabinet. The party leadership is playing the waiting game, even as the minister is busy exhausting his legal options.

Shah is important to the BJP as he is the tribal welfare minister in a state where Scheduled Tribes account for one-fifth of the population. But does his clout give him the liberty to insult the armed forces as well as women? The party must take exemplary action to reassure the nation, which stands firmly united against terrorism and communal divisiveness, that hate-mongers will not be tolerated.

Editorials