BJP MP claims women whose husbands were killed in Pahalgam terror attack lacked ‘spirit of warriors’

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ram Chander Jangra on Saturday claimed that the women whose husbands were killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam did not have the “spirit of warriors”, The Hindu reported.

The remarks led to a backlash from Opposition leaders, who demanded that he should be expelled from the BJP.

Addressing an event in Haryana’s Bhiwani, the Rajya Sabha MP said that women whose husbands were killed should have acted like “veerangna”, or warrior women, PTI reported. He also claimed that the casualties would have been less had the tourists fought back.

The terror attack at Baisaran near the town of Pahalgam on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.

Opposition leaders criticised Jangra’s remarks on Saturday about the attack.

Calling the BJP MP’s remarks “shameful”, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “this shameful statement”.

“BJP leaders are continuously insulting the Indian Army and the martyrs, which exposes their petty and low mentality,” Ramesh said on X. “This shameful statement of Rajya Sabha MP Ramchandra Jangra shows that the BJP, intoxicated with power, has become so insensitive that instead of blaming the security...

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