Modi govt faces backlash for inviting women officers to KBC

The promo of Kaun Banega Crorepati for special episode of India's Independence Day, showing three serving women officers describing "Operation Sindoor" against Pakistan, sparked backlash over promoting nationalist narrative via a popular entertainment platform.

The entertainment show's episode, scheduled for August 15 on India's independence day, released its promo a day ago in which the host Amitabh Bachchan was welcoming Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force and Commander Prerna Deosthalee of the Indian Navy.

The uniformed officers were invited in the backdrop of a military confrontation triggered by India's airstrikes in Pakistan in May following the killing of tourists in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

India blamed Pakistan for the Pahalgam attack, which Islamabad denied.

"Pakistan had been doing this for years. A response was necessary, which is why Operation Sindoor was planned," Qureshi said in the promo while Singh claiming that they ended their [Pakistan] game within 25 minutes, with the concluding remarks: "This is a new India, with a new mindset."

However, the Modi government was criticised by netizens who saw it as an attempt to politicise the military and promote its nationalist agenda via a popular TV show.

"Our patriotism is being reduced to a spectacle," a netizen Snehal took to X to criticise it, adding: "One day, we hear about Himanshi Narwal, wife of a Navy officer martyred in Pahalgam being approached by Bigg Boss."

"Modi is so afraid of losing the narrative that he sends 3 uniformed military officers to a private channel to explain to a Bollywood spineless star why his 'Operation Sindoor' was planned against Pakistan. Modi shamelessly using army for his hate politics," wrote Ashok Swain — a professor critic of the current Indian rulers.

Congress party's Kerala chapter and others also criticised the move.