Bhopal: The Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court on Wednesday took suo-moto cognizance of the offensive remarks made by the state’s tribal affairs minister Vijay Shah against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. The court has directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to register a First Information report (FIR) against him by 6 pm on Wednesday.
A division bench of justices Atul Shridharan and Anuradha Shukla ordered the Police to file an FIR under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups) and 197 (action and statement that harm national integration) against Vijay Shah.
“Those who widowed our daughters, we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson. The country’s honour and respect and the marital bliss of our sisters can be avenged by sending the sisters of your community to Pakistan,” Vijay Shah had said at a programme in Indore on Monday, in an apparent reference to Qureshi.
On Tuesday, he apologised for the objectionable remarks after condemnation from the opposition and censure from his own party, the BJP.
The Madhya Pradesh BJP leadership warned Vijay Shah for his remark against Colonel Qureshi that invited protest across the nation against the party.
