"Patriotism Runs In Our Blood": Family Of Colonel Who Led Op Briefing With Wing Commander

As Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh flanked Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Wednesday morning during the briefing about Operation Sindoor, creating a striking image, her family in Gujarat beamed with pride.

Col Sofiya, who hails from Vadodara city, had quit Ph.D and a teaching career to become an Army officer, they said. Her parents and brother Mohammad Sanjay Qureshi live in the Tandalja area of the city.

Talking to reporters at their home, Sanjay said Col Sofiya was on the verge of finishing her PhD when she decided to look beyond the classroom setting and don the olive-green uniform of the Indian Army.

Sanjay said his sister was inspired by their grandfather and father, as both had served in the Army.

"You can say that patriotism runs in our blood. After finishing school, Sofiya did BSc and then MSc in Biochemistry from MS University in Vadodara, as she wanted to become a professor," Sanjay told reporters.

He was accompanied by his father Tajuddin Qureshi, mother Hanima and daughter Zara.

"My sister joined the varsity as an assistant lecturer while simultaneously pursuing Ph.D in the same subject as she wanted to become a professor. Meanwhile, she was selected in the Indian Army through the Short Service Commission (SSC) and decided to quit her Ph.D and teaching career to join the forces," he said.

He said that the entire family is proud of her achievement.

Calling his sister a role model for Zara, Sanjay said his teenage daughter has also made up her mind to join the Army.

Col Sofiya's father Tajuddin Qureshi said his family is concerned only about the country.

"I am proud of my daughter. My family has always followed the principle of 'Vayam Rashtre Jagrayam' (we will keep the nation awake and alive). We are Indian first, and Muslim afterwards. We are concerned only about our country," he said.

During the briefing, Col Sofiya and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh flanked Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who delivered the opening statement from the government, hours after the Indian armed forces hit nine terror targets in Pakistan and PoK, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke.

Qureshi and Singh shared the names and details of the sites targeted by missiles from 1 am to 1.30 am on the intervening night of May 6-7. The military strikes were carried out under Operation Sindoor, two weeks after the massacre of 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

Later in the day, the Gujarat government said in a release that Col Sofiya did her masters in 1997 and then joined the Army's Corps of Signals. Her husband is an officer in the Mechanised Infantry of the Indian Army, it said.

"In 2016, Col Sofiya achieved a historic feat as she became the first woman officer to lead an Indian military contingent abroad, becoming the only woman commander among the 18 countries participating in 'Force 18', a multinational military exercise involving ASEAN Plus countries," said the release.

It added that she was deployed in Congo in 2006 during a six-year stint with the peacekeeping operations of the United Nations. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)