Ram Gopal Yadav sparks row with 'caste' remark on Wing Commander Vyomika Singh; defends later

Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament (MP) Ram Gopal Yadav has sparked a political row for speaking about the castes of Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Air Marshal AK Bharti, who were part of the briefings on Operation Sindoor.

Yadav's remarks come days after Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) Madhya Pradesh minister faced an FIR over his remarks directed at one of the woman officers, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, also part of briefings.

BJP leader Kiran Chaudhary on Friday said that the remarks by Ram Gopal Yadav on Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Air Marshal AK Bharti are not in the "national interest."

"People who say such cheap things are anti-national people and they have no respect for the country. This is not in the national interest," Chaudhary told ANI.

“Their minister even gave gaali (abuses) to our Colonel Qureshi. The High Court ordered an FIR against him. Lekin (Vyomika Singh) ke baare me inhein maloom nahin, ki woh kaun hain. Aur naa air operation ke jo incharge thai – Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti – unke baare mein maloom tha. Warna inhein bhi gaali dete (But they didn’t know about Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, or the officer in-charge of the air operations, Air Marshal Bharti. Otherwise, the BJP would have abused them too).” Yadav said, addressing a gathering of partymen in Moradabad.

Yadav later defended his remarks, referring to what he called many cases of atrocities against minorities, Dalits and backwards classes in north Indian states, especially Uttar Pradesh.

Taking a dig at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who labeled Yadav's remarks as "casteist", the SP leader said that the Yogi, under whose nose the atrocities are committed, reacted to his statement without even listening to it. He also ridiculed the media channels, saying nobody except the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trusts them.

I am surprised that….

"I am surprised that the Chief Minister, under whose nose unimaginable atrocities are being committed on minorities, Dalits and backward classes, tweeted without even listening to my entire statement. I have no complaint against the media channels that have taken over Islamabad and Rawalpindi because no one except the ruling party trusts them," Yadav posted on X.

The SP MP clarified that he was making a point about people with "corrupt mentality" that those who "abused" Colonel Sofiya Qureshi on the basis of her religion would have abused Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Air Marshal AK Bharti, had they known their caste location.

"I had made statements about people with such corrupt mentality in a programme yesterday, stating that Colonel Sofia was abused because she was identified by her religion, Foreign Secretary Mistry was abused, if these abusers had come to know that Vyomika Singh is Jatav and Air Marshal Bharti is Yadav, then they would not have refrained from abusing these officers also," he added.

This comes after Yogi Adityanath slammed Yadav over the latter's remarks, accusing the Samajwadi Party of being "narrow-minded" and insulting the army. He said the public would respond to the "distorted casteist thinking".

"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 public will once again respond to this distorted casteist thinking," Adityanath posted on X.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati said it was "unfair" to divide the army based on religion and caste. She said that Yadav committed the same "mistake" as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Shah, who sparked a political controversy over his remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, which were "shameful and condemnable".

(With inputs from agencies)