On May 7, the Indian government fielded two women military officers to brief the press about the strikes carried out in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. One of them was Muslim – Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
For the international media watching India, the government’s messaging was loud and clear: unlike Pakistan, India is a secular democracy with a professional army.
But within a week, this careful projection has unravelled. Referring to Qureshi without naming her, Madhya Pradesh minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader “Jinhone hamare betiyon ke sindoor uchala… humne unhi ki behen ko hamare jahaj mein bhej kar aise ki taisi karvai.” The ones who wiped off the sindoor of our sisters, Modi ji sent their own sister in our plane to teach them a lesson.
“You widowed our sisters,” he continued, rhetorically addressing the terrorists, “so we sent your sister to strip and humiliate you.”
Shah’s drew outrage, criticism and an .
The apology that followed was just as revealing. “Sister Sofia has brought glory to India by rising above caste and religion,” Shah told The Indian Express. “She is more respected than our own sister.”
Not only did the Madhya Pradesh minister perceive an accomplished and senior military officer as the “sister” of Pakistani terrorists merely because of her...
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