BJP MP says he’s open to apology after remark on women lacking ‘warrior spirit’ in Pahalgam attack
Bhiwani: Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra has stirred controversy with a remark mentioning that the women who lost their husbands in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack lacked the "spirit of warriors", implying that this was why they fell victim while pleading for their spouses' lives.
Speaking at an event in Bhiwani commemorating the 300th birth anniversary of Queen Ahilyabai Holkar, the 75-year-old BJP leader stated that better preparedness, possibly under the Agniveer scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, could have reduced the casualties.
Jangra later issued a clarification, claiming that his comments had been distorted to generate political controversy. He added that he “doesn’t mind apologising” if anyone was hurt by his statement, as reported by The Hindu on Sunday.
His comments have drawn sharp criticism for being insensitive to victims of terrorism. Congress MP and communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh took to social media platform X demanding accountability from the ruling party. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise for this shameful statement and expel MP Ram Chander Jangra from the party,” he wrote. He further questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership, asking if it should be seen as silent approval of such comments.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also weighed in strongly, calling Jangra’s comments “disgusting” and reflective of what he termed the BJP’s anti-women mindset. “Instead of honoring women, the BJP chooses to insult, blame, exploit, and harass them in every possible way—this is their true face, and it is both shameful and revolting. The BJP is not a political party, but a cesspool of anti-women mentality,” Yadav wrote on X.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
