SP MP Jaya Bachchan mocks Operation Sindoor — launched after a Hindu massacre — by sneering that “the sindoor has been wiped off the widows’ foreheads.”
No tears for the dead. No respect for the widows.
Just heartless mockery.This ‘Samajwadi secularism’ is inhuman!! pic.twitter.com/tLZ1MFG9I8
— Priti Gandhi (@MrsGandhi) July 30, 2025
New Delhi: A fierce political row erupted in Parliament on Wednesday after Samajwadi Party MP and veteran actor Jaya Bachchan lashed out at the government over the naming of ‘Operation Sindoor’, the counter-terror mission launched after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 dead.
Her remarks came a day after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the timing of a related encounter—Operation Mahadev—in which three terrorists were killed on Monday, alleging the action may have been politically timed.
10. Akhilesh Yadav (SP)
Questions Operation Mahadev, says he won’t thank the government for it. pic.twitter.com/6RHhSLhxCu
— Political Kida (@PoliticalKida) July 29, 2025
Taking the floor in Rajya Sabha during a heated debate, Bachchan expressed grief over the April attack, then sharply criticized the symbolic naming of the operation.
“Why did you name it ‘Sindoor’? That day, sindoor was destroyed… Women watched their husbands die in front of their eyes,” she said, invoking the traditional vermilion symbol of married Hindu women. “I must congratulate you on your scriptwriters—you do pick dramatic names,” she added with biting sarcasm.
Her comments triggered loud protests from the treasury benches. When some BJP MPs tried to interrupt, a visibly agitated Bachchan fired back:
“When a woman speaks, I never interrupt. So please, mind your tongue.”
As the atmosphere grew tense, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, seated beside her, tried to calm her down. But Bachchan snapped, “Priyanka, don’t control me,” prompting a visibly awkward smile from Chaturvedi.
Bachchan went on to accuse the government of a “massive intelligence failure”, calling it a “betrayal of public trust.”
“You’ve broken the faith of the people. The families who lost their loved ones will never forgive you,” she declared.
Her emotionally charged critique, especially over the name ‘Operation Sindoor’, was met with a sharp rebuttal from BJP circles.
“Just look at the mindset,” said BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla. “Yes, terrorists destroyed sindoor—but sindoor is not just an ornament. It symbolizes strength. ‘Operation Sindoor’ was about reclaiming that strength. If you try to wipe out our sindoor, we will wipe you out.”
Government sources later indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself approved the name, intending it as a tribute to the Hindu tradition of sindoor and a symbolic act of justice after terrorists executed several Hindu men in front of their families.
The naming of the operation has since taken center stage in a broader ideological face-off—transforming a national security operation into a fiery debate over symbolism, sentiment, and political optics.
