New Delhi: A serious Lok Sabha debate on ‘Operation Sindoor’, India’s recent cross-border military action, briefly turned light-hearted on Monday night when Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal made a tongue-in-cheek comment that left the House in splits.
Speaking late into the session, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief said, “You named the mission ‘Sindoor’… It felt like India had filled Pakistan’s maang with sindoor. According to Hindu beliefs, a woman sees sindoor as a symbol of her husband. So, if India has applied sindoor to Pakistan, that makes Pakistan the wife; now, only the ‘bidaai’ is left. Bring her home.”
The offbeat analogy, though wrapped in satire, sparked loud laughter from MPs across party lines, cutting through the otherwise tense atmosphere of the debate.
Beniwal was commenting on the government’s assertion that Pakistan had been brought “to its knees” during Operation Sindoor. Referring to the symbolic naming of the military operation, he said, “It seemed like a marriage ritual. India has symbolically claimed Pakistan as a wife, just complete the ritual and bring her home.”
Sitting next to Beniwal was Azad Samaj Party chief and Nagina MP Chandra Shekhar Azad, who couldn’t help but laugh at the dramatic metaphor. At one point, when someone interrupted Beniwal and asked him to wrap up, the RLP leader retorted, “You spoke for half an hour, and now you’re asking me to finish?”
As the warning bell rang, signalling his time was up, Beniwal continued, “What’s the rush?” Azad stepped in to defend him, requesting a few more minutes on his behalf. Beniwal also took a jibe at the speaking schedule, saying, “You are asking me to speak at 10:30 in the morning, no newspaper will carry my remarks. I will have to rely on social media to get the message out.”
The moment highlighted the often unpredictable nature of Parliament debates, where even sharp critiques can take a humorous turn, and occasionally go viral.
