'They Would Have Abused Vyomika Singh Too if They Knew She was a Dalit': Senior SP Leader's Dig at BJP
New Delhi: On the backfoot after one of its ministers in Madhya Pradesh made communally-laced derogatory remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on May 15 tried to shift the optics by rallying against senior Opposition leader Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party after he targeted the saffron party by referring to the caste backgrounds of the officers involved in the Operation Sindoor.
Addressing a public meeting in Moradabad on Thursday, Yadav – a Rajya Sabha Member as well as the national general secretary of the SP – took a dig at the BJP after its minister Kunwar Vijay Shah referred to Qureshi as “sister of terrorists.” For his controversial remarks, Shah earned the censure of the MP High Court, which ordered police to register an FIR against him for further action.
Yadav first criticised the BJP for launching nationwide Shaurya Tiranga Yatras to celebrate Operation Sindoor even as infiltration incidents continued in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Terrorists are getting killed daily. They are coming from Pakistan. And they (BJP) are taking out a Tiranga Yatra. They are doing this only for elections,” said Yadav.
'Had they knew the caste of other officers, they would have hurled abuses at them as well'
The senior SP leader then referred to the MP High Court ordering an FIR against Shah. He alleged that had the BJP known about the background of wing commander Vyomika Singh and air marshal A. K Bharti, its leaders could have insulted them too like they did with Colonel Qureshi, a Muslim.
“They didn’t know what Vyomika Singh’s caste was nor did they know about air marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti. Otherwise, they would have hurled abuses at them too,” said Yadav.
The SP leader then went on to talk about the caste background of Vyomika Singh and A.K Bharti. “Let me tell you – Vyomika Singh is a ‘Jatav Chamar’ from Haryana, and Air Marshal Bharti is a Yadav from Purnia. All three were from the PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak),” said Yadav.
The PDA refers to the electoral strategy of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav – Ram Gopal Yadav is his uncle – of mobilising backward castes, Dalits and minorities, especially Muslims, against the BJP’s Hindutva agenda.
Jatav is a Dalit community while Yadav is an Other Backward Classes (OBC) community. Yadav further said that while one (Qureshi) was abused because the BJP knew she was a Muslim, they did not say anything about Vyomika Singh assuming her to be an ‘upper caste’ Rajput. About A.K Bharti, they had no information whatsoever, added Yadav.
The BJP, left red-faced by Shah’s remarks against Colonel Qureshi, launched an attack against Yadav accusing him of insulting the armed forces by viewing it through the lens of caste.
“The uniform of the army is not seen through a 'casteist lens'. Every soldier of the Indian army performs 'national duty' and is not a representative of any caste or religion,” said UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
BJP attacks SP over Yadav's statement
Targeting Yadav, Adityanath said that the SP leader’s “act of binding a brave daughter within the ambit of caste” was “not only a display of his party’s narrow-mindedness” but was also “a grave insult to the valour of the army and the country’s identity.”
“This is the same mentality which dares to divide even patriotism in the name of appeasement and vote bank politics,” said Adityanath.
BJP’s Uttar Pradesh president Bhupendra Chaudhary said Yadav’s “casteist statement” on wing commander Vyomika Singh, “the daughter of the country who broke the morale of terrorists and Pakistan, is not only reprehensible but is also a gross insult to the amazing courage, bravery of the army and the identity of Mother India.”
“Ram Gopal Yadav has probably forgotten that by successfully completing Operation Sindoor, the daughter of the country has done the unique work of making Mother India's pride and glory known to the entire world, which is amazing and admirable in itself,” said Chaudhary.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, herself a Jatav Dalit, criticised both Yadav and the BJP for their “shameful and condemnable” remarks.
“The entire country is united and proud of the valour of Operation Sindoor of the Indian Army against the terrorists in Pakistan. In such a situation, it is extremely unfair to judge and divide the army on the basis of religion and caste,” she said.
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