"Don't Control Me": Jaya Bachchan Scolds Fellow MP, Sparks A 'Sindoor' Row

Samajwadi Party MP and veteran actor Jaya Bachchan sparked a row today after she questioned Operation Sindoor's name and asked why it was named so when the Pahalgam terror attack "destroyed the sindoor" of so many women.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha during the debate on Operation Sindoor, Ms Bachchan started her speech by expressing her condolences to the families of the 26 innocents murdered in Pahalgam's Baisaran Valley on April 22.

Addressing the treasury benches, she said, "I would congratulate you on the writers you have hired. You give grand names. Why did you name it 'Sindoor'? Sindoor toh ujad gaya (sindoor was destroyed), the wives of those who were killed."

Ms Bachchan was also riled when MPs from the ruling party interrupted her speech. "Either you speak or I will speak. When you speak, I don't interrupt. When a woman speaks, I never interrupt. So please mind your tongue," she said.

On one occasion, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who was seated next to Ms Bachchan, came under fire for trying to calm her down. "Priyanka, don't control me," said the veteran actor as Ms Chaturvedi responded with a laugh.

The Samajwadi Party MP questioned the government on the intelligence failure that led to the Pahalgam terror attack. "You have destroyed the faith of the people. The families (of victims) will never forgive you."

Ms Bachchan's remarks on Operation Sindoor's name have now drawn fire from the BJP. "Just see their mindset. Jaya Bachchan ji, the terrorists destroyed sindoor, but sindoor is not just for embellishment; it is also a symbol of strength and capability. The name Operation Sindoor was chosen to send a message: you wipe off sindoor, we will destroy you. This was achieved," BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, accusing opposition parties Congress and Samajwadi Party of lowering the morale of the armed forces with such remarks.

Operation Sindoor, reports have said, was a name chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the killers in Pahalgam rounded up Hindu men and shot them at close range in front of their wives and children.

Sindoor in Hindi means vermilion, which Hindu women put on their head as a symbol of marriage. The name of the operation captured the loss of these women, whose partners were brutally killed in front of their eyes.