Why Always a Woman? And Why Especially a Woman Like Her?

BJP Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah said during a public meeting in Mhow on 12^th May, 2025:

“The people who had destroyed the vermilion of our daughters, we sent one of their sisters to those same mutilated people and made them suffer… They (terrorists) killed our Hindus by stripping them and Modi ji sent their sister (Col Sofia Qureshi) to their house to beat them up. Modi ji could not strip them, so he sent a sister of his community and told them that you have made our sisters widows, now the sister of your community will come and leave you naked.”

This essay does not concern itself with the personage of Kunwar Vijay Shah—for the mere fact that such a man occupies ministerial office is a rebuke to the dignity of public life itself. One is compelled to ask: what occupies the attention of the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh while such utterances pass unchallenged in the public square?

Ideally, Shah ought to be relieved of his duties, divested of party affiliation, and rendered politically irrelevant forthwith. But perhaps that is to expect too much from a political dispensation which has, with alarming frequency, confused incitement for ideology. The day is not distant when the Frankenstein’s creatures they have so carelessly unleashed shall rise—not in anger, but in consequence.

Let it be understood: this is no augury. It is a certainty biding its time in the quiet womb of history, awaiting its appointed hour.

Yet this essay does not seek to dwell on political retribution or institutional accountability.

It seeks instead to ask a question—at once simple and searing:

Why is it always a woman?

And why, with such unwavering precision, is it always a woman like her?

When Power Wants to Hurt, It Chooses the Woman

Throughout history—across caste, religion, and regimes—when hatred has needed a body to desecrate, it has almost always chosen the woman’s body. She is the metaphor, the battlefield, the collateral, the spectacle.

To honour a community? They speak of her vermilion.

To insult a community? They fantasize about stripping her.

To avenge a death? They invoke a woman from “their side” to symbolically humiliate “the other side.”

And when women succeed—especially when they succeed without the system’s permission—the same power structure comes for her.

What Did Colonel Sofia Qureshi Do, Except Succeed?

Colonel Sofia Qureshi is not a “sister of their community.”

She is an Indian officer—decorated, trained, and valiant.

She led an Indian UN Peacekeeping contingent—a historic first for any Indian woman.

She has served on the frontlines of anti-terrorism operations.

She has worn the uniform with honour and risked her life for this country.

So, what did she do wrong?

Nothing. Except break every stereotype the system needs to survive:

She is a woman who doesn’t need validation from men.
She is from a minority community, yet fiercely national.
She has power, voice, and dignity—none of which she begged for.

And that makes her dangerous—not to the nation, but to those who confuse nationalism with toxic masculinity and majoritarian supremacy.

What Happens When Women Refuse to Be Submissive?

Let’s not beat around the bush: patriarchy fears women who speak, and casteist-patriarchy fears them even more when they rise from the margins.

In Indian society, especially among dominant caste groups:

A woman is respected only if she is quiet.
A woman is honoured only if she is invisible.
A woman is celebrated only when she serves the system—not when she shakes

This is why successful, vocal women are always vilified.

Not because they are wrong.

But because they prove the system is broken—and unnecessary.

And What Happens When She’s a Minority Woman?

When the woman is Muslim, Dalit, Adivasi, or from any marginalized identity, the hatred multiplies.

Now she isn’t just:

A woman challenging gender role.

She is also:

A Muslim challenging communal narrative.
A professional succeeding where she’s not supposed to.
A citizen who refuses to be tokenized.

To the men in power, this is unforgivable.

They don’t just want her silent—they want her symbolically punished. They want her converted into an object of propaganda. They want her stripped of dignity, even when she’s in uniform.

Why Always a Woman?

Because in their worldview:

A man is power; a woman is property.
A nation is territory, and the woman is territory’s honour.
And to shame a people, they must drag a woman’s name through the mud.

That’s why.

That’s always why.

And yet, they forget—women like Colonel Sofia Qureshi don’t need permission.

They don’t need rescue.

They carry honour not in their vermilion, but in their courage.

They don’t represent “their community”—they represent the idea of India that refuses to be reduced to tribal vengeance.

The Final Truth

The question is no longer: Why do they hate women like her?

The question is: How much longer will we let them?

And to that, the answer must be unflinching:

Not anymore.

Let’s demand accountability from leaders, amplify women’s voices, and challenge divisive rhetoric at every turn. Colonel Sofia Qureshi doesn’t need our permission—she’s already shown us the way. Now, it’s our turn to act.