New Delhi: Retired soldiers and eminent citizens have written to President Draupadi Murmu, expressing distress at two senior Bharatiya Janata Party ministers’ comments against the armed forces. The signatories mention the remarks of Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who was part of the Operation Sindoor briefings and of deputy chief minister Jagdish Devda on how soldiers are ‘bowing’ at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s feet.

The full text of their letter, along with the list of signatories, is below.

§

To,

The President of India

[Supreme Commander of India’s Defence Forces]

Rashtrapati Bhavan

New Delhi

Dear and Respected Madam,

We feel distressed and anguished at the derogatory statements made by Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda and Minister Vijay Shah against the Defence Forces, in the context of the recent India-Pakistan conflict following the horrific Pahalgam terrorist attack on innocent tourists.

First, Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah made a public statement referring to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the official spokesperson for the Defence Forces, as the “(terrorists) wiped the sindoor of our sisters and daughters (in the context of the recent Pahalgam attack by terrorists), and we sent their own sister to give it back to them in kind”. In this, he publicly betrayed his gender-insensitive, non-secular, divisive state of mind, deprecating women in general, tending to incite communal fissures, and insulting India’s Defence Forces.

Second, Deputy CM Jagdish Devda, speaking at a training session for civil defence volunteers in Jabalpur, told the audience, “Pradhanmantri ji ko bhi dhanyawad dena chahenge, aur pura desh, desh ki wo sena, wo sainik, unke charno mein natmastak hain. Unke charno mein pura desh natmastak hai. Unhone jo jawab diya hai (We would also like to thank the Prime Minister; the entire country, the country’s Army, its soldiers are bowing at his feet. The entire country is bowing at his feet, for the retaliatory response).” [>. This link was available earlier, but appears to have been removed at present].

It may be recalled that earlier, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath, made a similar derogatory statement against the Defence Forces by calling it “modiji ki sena”, in April 2019. [<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50SCL-Slhlg>. This link was available earlier, but appears to have been removed at present]. It is unfortunate that Government chose to remain silent on the matter.

Shri Adityanath’s earlier statement and Shri Jagdish Devda’s recent statement showed their disrespect for the letter and spirit of Article 53 of the Constitution of India, which defines executive power of the Union as follows:

“Executive power of the Union. – (1) The executive power of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the supreme command of the Defence Forces of the Union shall be vested in the President and the exercise thereof shall be regulated by law.

(3) Nothing in this article shall— (a) be deemed to transfer to the President any functions conferred by any existing law on the Government of any State or other authority;”

We need hardly emphasise that, under Article 53(2) of the Constitution, the supreme command of the Defence Forces of the Union shall vest in the President of India, and in no other authority.

It is unfortunate that the remarks of Shri Jagdish Devda are actually being defended, as this link indicates. Shri Jagdish Devda’s statement displays his disrespect for the authority of the President of India. Reportedly, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has suo moto ordered the police to file a case against Shri Vijay Shah

While expressing solidarity with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and the Defence Forces in general, for their unwavering commitment to safeguarding national security, we unequivocally condemn the statements made by the two Ministers named above.

We feel that the derogatory statements made by the two Ministers can adversely affect the morale of the serving personnel of our Defence Forces, resulting in weakening of national security and territorial integrity.

Because of the stringent laws and rules governing discipline in the Defence Forces, its serving personnel are debarred from responding to these derogatory, humiliating statements.

We therefore respectfully request you, to issue directions for appropriate action to be taken by Government to prevent recurrence of such regrettable incidents, in the interest of national unity and security.

Jai Hind!

Yours faithfully,

Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, PVSM, AVSM (Retd)

Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd)

Lt Gen Ashok Vasudeva (Retd)

Maj Gen Rajendra Prakash, VSM (Retd)

Maj Gen M.P.S.Kandal (Retd)

Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere, VSM (Retd)

Maj Gen Inderjit Singh Dhillon (Retd)

Maj Gen Brajesh Kumar, AVSM, VSM (Retd)

Maj Gen M.Amin Naik, SM (Retd)

Maj Gen A.J.S.Sandhu (Retd)

Rear Admiral Alan O’Leary (Retd)

Rear Admiral B.K.Ray, UYSM (Retd)

Brig Vijay Atray (Retd)

Cmde Lokesh Batra (Retd)

Col Vivek Bopiah (Retd)

Col Pavan Nair, VSM (Retd)

Col Alok Asthana (Retd)

Capt Aziz Lone, IN (Retd)

Cdr David Isaacs (Retd)

Cdr A. Sridharan (Retd)

Cdr Raj Kumar (Retd)Ms. Lalita Ramdas, Secunderabad

Shri. Vappala Balachandran, IPS (Retd)

Ms. Meena Gupta, IAS (Retd)

Shri. G. Balagopal, IAS (Retd)

Shri. Ranjan Kashyap, IAS (Retd)

Shri. Ravi Joshi, Mysuru

Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar, Former Dean IIM, Ahmedabad

Dr. S.Chatterjee, Retired Scientist, Bengaluru

Dr. Vinod Vyasulu, Economist, Bengaluru

Prof. Shalini Urs, Mysuru

Dr. Swarnamala Sirsi, Mysuru

Ms. Preethi Maroli, Mysuru

Prof. N.S.Rangaraju, Mysuru

Ms. Rashmi Oberoi, Chandigarh

Ms. E.Roopa Rao, Mysuru

Dr. Rati Rao, E., Retired Scientist, National President AIPWA

Shri. C.P.Viswanatha Guptha, Mysuru

Shri. Chhotebhai, Convenor Indian Catholic Forum, Kanpur

Shri. Badri Narayan Krishnan, Mysuru

Shri. Mansoor Ahmed, Mysuru

Shri. D.T.Devare, Bengaluru

Shri. M.F.Kaleem, Mysuru

Ms. Rosamma Thomas, Pala

Shri. P.A.Kumar, Mysuru

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