“Cut them in half”: Pragya Thakur urges keeping sharp weapons at home, calls for Muslim boycott
Bhopal: Former Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur, infamous for making provocative statements, recently urged Hindu women and girls to shun Muslim men and to refuse them entry even for routine household repairs.
Speaking at a Durga Vahini (Vishwa Hindu Parishad women’s wing) Navratri event in Bhopal on Sunday, Thakur made a string of explicit appeals and directives aimed at segregating everyday interactions between Hindus and Muslims. Her comments come nearly two months after a special court in Mumbai acquitted her in connection with the 2007 Malegaon blast case.
“There is no brother-sister bond in Miyas (Muslims). If they don’t respect their own sisters, how can they respect you as their sister? Muslim men are looking to deceive and trap Hindu women and girls. Don’t ever become sisters of Muslims,” The New Indian Express quoted Thakur as saying.
Thakur urged women to take a vow “not to allow vidharmis in your home,” warning against permitting Muslim men to carry out work such as light fittings, plumbing repairs or driving family vehicles. “All our women and girls should take a vow of not falling into the trap of vidharmis,” she said, and called for organised efforts to “rescue from their clutches our women and girls who have already been trapped.”
Further escalating her rhetoric, she asserted that sharp weapons should be kept at home. "When our daughters are abducted and their bodies are thrown on the road, it causes immense pain. To release that pain, when the enemy comes, they should be cut in half," NDTV quoted Thakur as saying.
Thakur went further to call for economic and social boycotts of minorities. She urged devotees to avoid consuming edible products prepared by non-Hindus, to form groups that would identify shops run by Muslims near temples, and to report such vendors. In a particularly inflammatory passage, she said that non-Hindu vendors selling prasad near temples “should be thrashed and handed over to the law enforcement,” language that invites violence against a religious community.
The comments have sparked strong political backlash. Umang Singhar, Leader of the Opposition in Madhya Pradesh, condemned Thakur's remarks as "objectionable" and accused the BJP of intentionally fueling communal tensions to distract from more pressing issues.
"The BJP accuses others of playing Hindu-Muslim politics, but its own leaders make such provocative statements from public platforms. Pragya Thakur is a repeat offender. At a time when Madhya Pradesh is grappling with unemployment, inflation, and recruitment scams, the BJP uses such rhetoric to mislead the public," NDTV quoted Singhar as saying.
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Annpurna Devi expresses anguish over girl's rape in TN, urges NCW to act
New Delhi (PTI): Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi on Tuesday expressed her anguish over the alleged gang rape of a girl in Tamil Nadu and urged the National Commission for Women to take immediate cognisance of the matter.
In a post on X, Devi said, "Deeply anguished by this horrific incident. I urge the NCW to take immediate cognisance and act swiftly in coordination with the concerned authorities to ensure the strictest action against all culprits."
Devi said, "Justice must be swift and unsparing — the accused must be brought to book without delay," adding, "the safety, dignity, and justice of every daughter of India remain our highest priority."
"We stand firmly with the survivor and her family in this difficult hour," she said.
Reacting to a post by former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai, who flagged concerns over the law and order situation in the state, Devi said such incidents "expose grave concerns" under the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government.
Annamalai, in his post, alleged that a 15-year-old girl from Kanchipuram, who had come to participate in a temple festival near Seyyaru in Tiruvannamalai district, was gangraped.
He said the incident was "deeply shocking and enraging" to him and alleged that such crimes point to a "complete failure" of law and order in Tamil Nadu.
Annamalai demanded immediate arrest of all those involved and the "harshest punishments" for the accused.
He also called for full protection and mental health counselling for the survivor and her family.
