Meet Sophia Qureshi - The Colonel Trending After Indian Airstrikes in Pakistan
Colonel Sophia Qureshi - a Muslim, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh – a Hindu, were given the task to address the media to give details of the late night airstrikes in Pakistan codenamed 'Operation Sindoor' was aimed to showcase the united face of the country
India on Wednesday May 07, 2025 avenged the April 2025 Pahalgam Terrorist Attack launching a barrage of missiles on as many as 9 targets in Pakistan.
Besides the accuracy and preciseness with which India successfully hit its targets in Pakistan, the choice of Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh for the post-attack media briefing has generated a lot of interest in India and abroad.
Colonel Sophia Qureshi - a Muslim, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh – a Hindu, were given the task to address the media to give details of the late night airstrikes in Pakistan codenamed “Operation Sindoor” was aimed to showcase the united face of the country.
As many as 26 people – 25 tourists and 01 local horseman, were killed in Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22, 2025. India accused Pakistan for the attack and also said one of the aims of the attack was to divide India on communal lines.
The choice of Colonel Sophia Qureshi - a Muslim, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh – a Hindu, to jointly address the press after the airstrikes was to counter this.
“India's Muslim daughter, Colonel Sophia Qureshi, briefing a press conference on behalf of the Indian Army, about taking revenge for the terrorist attack on Pahalgam from Pakistan”, an elated social media user wrote while sharing the video of Qureshi addressing the media at the National Information Centre in New Delhi Wednesday.
Pakistan has denied the Indian allegations, saying it did not have anything to do with the Pahalgam attack.
Who is Colonel Sophia Qureshi?
Colonel Sophia Qureshi is from Vadodara in Gujarat. She has a Postgraduate degree in Biochemistry. Col Sophia comes from a military family, her grandfather served in the Indian Army and her father was an Army religious teacher. She is married to Major Tajuddin Qureshi of the Mechanised Infantry.
An officer of the Army’s Signal Corps, 44-yr-old Sophiya Qureshi, was one of the 11 women officers whose achievements were highlighted by the Supreme Court in its landmark 2020 judgment on gender parity in the Army’s top positions.
The judgment dismissed the government’s arguments against granting women command appointments and specifically acknowledged the accomplishments of these 11 female officers.
Lt Col Sophia Qureshi was the 1st woman officer to lead an Army training contingent at “Exercise Force 18” - ASEAN Plus Multinational field training exercise in 2016 when she was 35. She was also the only Woman Officers Contingent Commander among all ASEAN Plus contingents. The exercise was based on the themes ‘Humanitarian Mine Action’ and ‘Peacekeeping Operations’.
Lt Col Qureshi also served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation in Congo in 2006 when she was just 25. She has been associated with peacekeeping operations for over six years.
Lt Col Sophia Qureshi joined the Indian Army through the Officers Training Academy in 1999. At an event at Miranda House, Sophia said, “My mother wanted us sisters to join the Armed Forces.”
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh who shared the dais with Lt Col Sophia to address the media, is a helicopter pilot in the Air Force and is specialized in helicopter operations.
Singh was commissioned into the IAF on December 18, 2004, as part of the 21st Short Service Commission (Women) Flying Pilot Course and was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander on December 18, 2017.
Wing Commander Singh has logged more than 2,500 flying hours. She has operated helicopters like the Chetak and Cheetah in some of the toughest terrains, including Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
Operation Sindoor
The Operation Sindoor, which started at 01:05 AM and lasted for 25 minutes till 01:30 AM Wednesday May 07, 2025, was a joint military operation coordinated by all the three wings of the Indian forces – the Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy.
As many as 24 cruise missiles were fired at 9 locations in Pakistan. The Indian Army in the media briefing said 5 of the 9 locations were in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) while 4 were in Pakistan.
The 9 locations targeted by the Indian Forces on Wednesday are LeT Markaz Ahle Hadees Barnala, LeT Shawai Nalla Camp Muzaffarabad, LeT Markaz Taiba Muridke, JeM Markaz Subhanallah Bahawalpur, JeM Tehra Kalan Sarjal, JeM Syedna Bilal Camp Muzaffarabad, JeM Markaz Abbas Kotli, HM Maskar Raheel Shahid Kotli and HM Mehmoona Joya Sialkot.
Giving details of the military operation, Lt Col Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, said no military installations of Pakistan were targeted and the aim was to give justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and eliminate the “terrorist training camps”.
Pakistan, on the other hand, claimed civilians were targeted in the attack and called the Indian airstrikes "provocation". The Pakistan Army also claimed shooting down 5 Indian fighter jets. Pakistan also vowed to defend itself and retaliate under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, adopted in 1945, focuses on the right of self-defense for member states. It states that nothing in the Charter impairs a state’s right to self-defense if an armed attack occurs against it, until the Security Council takes necessary measures to maintain international peace and security.
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