Congress demands dismissal of MP minister for 'outrageous' remarks against army

New Delhi: Congress strongly condemned the outrageous remarks of the Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda about the Indian army.

Devda said that the Indian army bows at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s feet.

The party has sought his immediate dismissal, besides that of Vijay Shah, another MP Minister, who earlier insulted the decorated officer Col Sofia Qureshi.

Addressing a press conference here today, Congress spokesperson and Chairperson of the Social Media and Digital Platforms, Supriya Shrinate, warned that the country will not tolerate any insult and humiliation of our defence forces.

Demanding immediate dismissal of the two BJP leaders from Madhya Pradesh government, she said, if they are not immediately sacked, “we will be forced to believe that they are enjoying the patronage of the BJP’s top brass including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and these remarks were made with his approval and concurrence”.

The senior Congress leader pointed out, our brave defence forces have repeatedly brought Pakistan to its knees and have always been defending and protecting the country from the scorching heat of deserts in Rajasthan to the bone-chilling cold of Siachen Glacier.

She observed that only the BJP leaders can use such insulting and blasphemous language against the defence forces. Since they did not make any contribution to the freedom struggle, they do not have any value or respect for the sacrifices of our defence forces.

Asserting that such remarks stem from a petty mindset, she said, a token apology will not work, and Devda must be sacked immediately.

Shrinate observed that the entire BJP leadership from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi and the governments at both places were busy protecting the two leaders.

She pointed out, an FIR was registered against Vijay Shah for his insulting remarks against Col Sofia Qureshi at the instructions of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. But, she added, the MP government still wanted to protect the erring minister as the court observed that the FIR against the minister was such that it wouldn’t stand the scrutiny of law.

Stating that the BJP and its leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, had hardly any respect for the sacrifices of the soldiers, she pointed out how the PM gave a clean chit to the Chinese after 20 of our brave soldiers were martyred at Galwan Heights.

“What to speak of avenging their deaths, Modi gave a clean chit to the Chinese, saying no intrusion took place”, she pointed out, while referring to Modi’s remark he made once that “a trader is braver than a soldier”.

Not just that, she added, India had increased trade with India to the extent that the trade deficit with China had reached $100 billion.