Moradabad (UP), May 16 (PTI) The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has lodged a police complaint against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Ram Gopal Yadav for his remarks referring to the caste of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, according to local police.
The BJP also condemned Yadav on Friday for his “casteist” comment about Wg Cdr Singh and asked his party chief Akhilesh Yadav to take action against him.
Wg Cdr Singh was recently involved in Operation Sindoor — a military operation launched in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22. Along with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, she briefed the media about Operation Sindoor on multiple occasions.
The complaint against Yadav, the SP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, was filed by Rajkamal Gupta, a member of the VHP’s central working committee, at the Civil Lines police station in Moradabad. While the complaint has been received, there was no FIR yet, the local police said.
Yadav, SP general secretary and a Rajya Sabha MP, on Thursday kicked off a political row by specifying the caste of Wing Commander Singh at an event in Moradabad while targeting the BJP over Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah’s alleged remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
Referring to Shah’s remarks, Yadav said, “One of their (BJP) ministers abused Colonel Qureshi. The high court has ordered registration of a case against him again. But he did not know who Vyomika Singh was and neither did he know about Air Marshal A K Bharti, otherwise these people would have abused them too.” “Let me tell you. Vyomika Singh is a Jatav from Haryana and Air Marshal Bharti is a Yadav from Purnia. So all three were from the PDA (picchda, Dalit, alpsankhyak or backwards, Dalits and minorities).” He alleged that 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, he said.
“When it came in the (news) paper, they are forced to think about what to do now,” he added.
VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal shared the details and images of the complaint on X (formerly Twitter), calling for swift action against what he termed “anti-national and Hindu-hostile” remarks.
In his post, Bansal said, “The Vishva Hindu Parishad has filed a complaint at the Civil Lines police station in Moradabad against Samajwadi Party General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav for his divisive and derogatory comments targeting the Indian Army and Hindu society. The complaint demands strict legal action under relevant laws, including for the grave insult directed at a Scheduled Caste officer.” An official at the Civil Lines police station confirmed to PTI on Friday evening that a complaint had been received, but no FIR has been lodged yet.
BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia condemned Yadav’s remarks as “irresponsible and worrisome”, and slammed the SP leader for his “bid to create division” in armed forces on the lines of caste.
“It’s unfortunate and condemnable,” Bhatia told PTI.
He said Yadav’s comment on the officer’s caste is a “serious offence” under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“Will Akhilesh Yadav be able to take any action against Ram Gopal Yadav or his love for family will prevail over love for the country?” he asked. PTI KIS KSS KSS
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