Yogi Adityanath slams SP leader's comment on IAF wing commander Vyomika Singh: ‘Grave insult'
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath slammed Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav for alleging that Madhya Pradesh BJP minister Vijay Shah spared IAF wing commander Vyomika Singh from abuse as he did not know her caste.
The SP leader was criticising the BJP minister for his derogatory comment on Indian Army colonel Sofiya Qureshi which drew widespread ire resulting in the registration of an FIR against Shah on the order of the Madhya Pradesh high court. The minister had apologised for his comment.
Condemning the SP leader, Adityanath said that the armed forces' uniform is not seen through 'casteist' eyes as every soldier does 'Rashtradharma' (duty towards the nation) and is neither a representative of any caste nor of a religion.
'The Samajwadi Party's national general secretary's act of binding a brave daughter within the ambit of caste is not only a display of his party's narrow-mindedness but is also a grave insult to the valour of the army and the country's identity,' the chief minister wrote in Hindi on X.
'This is the same mentality which dares to divide even patriotism in the name of appeasement and vote bank politics. The public will once again respond to this distorted casteist thinking,' Adityanath added.
Also read | Ramgopal Yadav's remark on IAF officer Vyomika Singh sparks row; Yogi Adityanath slams SP leader
Ramgopal Yadav slammed the BJP's 'Tiranga Yatra' as a gimmick being done for the sake of elections. 'These people (BJP) are taking out the Tiranga Yatra... They do everything only for elections. What is the need to take out the Tiranga Yatra? If there is a need then the whole country should be taken into confidence, all the political parties should be taken into confidence,' he said.
Also read | Meet Vyomika Singh, IAF wing commander who led the 'Operation Sindoor' briefing
The SP leader stated further, 'Vyomika Singh is a Jatav from Haryana, and Air Marshal Bharti is a Yadav from Purnia. So all three were from PDA (Picchda, dalit, Alpsankhyak or Backwards, dalits and minorities). One was abused as she was a Muslim. The other was spared thinking that she was a Rajput... and there was no information (to them) about Bharti.'
Meanwhile, visuals from ANI showed the SP party office in Lucknow sporting banners with words, 'Sofiya ka apmaan, desh ka apmaan hai. BJP desh se maafi maange (Insulting Sofia is an insult to the country. BJP should apologize to the country).'
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