“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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National Herald case: Shivakumar to seek time next week to appear before Delhi police
New Delhi/Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday said he will ask for time from Delhi police to appear before them next week, to provide required information as part of the probe into the National Herald case.
He said he will seek time after the ongoing winter session of Karnataka legislature ends on December 19. He will also ask the Delhi police to provide him the FIR copy.
Shivakumar, who is in the national capital, had earlier said that he will appear before the Delhi police on Monday. But, he postponed the plan in order to rush back to Karnataka to participate in the last rites of veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, scheduled later in the day in Davangere.
"I had to go (to appear before the Delhi police), but I have to go back urgently. I'm asking them for time, stating that I will come next week," Shivakumar told reporters in New Delhi.
"They (Delhi police) have not attached the FIR copy while issuing notice to me. I need FIR copy, because we had already given all the required replies to the ED. I don't know what the FIR says, I only read in papers. They have given notice, I will ask for a FIR copy. I will come next week after the Assembly session."
The Delhi Police had issued a notice to Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress chief, seeking financial and transactional details as part of its probe into the National Herald case.
The notice issued by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) states that Shivakumar is "supposed to be having vital information" pertaining to the National Herald case registered on October 3 this year, against top Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
In the notice dated November 29, the EOW had asked Shivakumar to appear before it or provide the requested information by December 19 latest.
Investigators have sought details about his personal background, his association with the Congress party, and a complete break up of funds allegedly transferred by him or associated entities to Young Indian.
To a question on meeting AICC General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, amid the ongoing power tussle between him and CM Siddaramaiah over the Chief Minister post, Shivakumar said when he comes to Delhi, he usually meets every one.
"Whether it is Surjewala or Kharge (AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge) or Venugopal, I will meet everyone. During lunch yesterday I met Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. I have met everyone. What's wrong?" he asked.
Shivakumar was in Delhi to take part in Congress' "Vote Chori" rally on Sunday, and had also participated in the lunch organised by the party for its leaders.
Responding to a question, whether any meeting is planned with leaders today, the Deputy CM said, he and Kharge will be travelling together to Karnataka, to pay last respects to Shamanuru Shivashankarappa.
Asked if he will seek time for a separate meeting with Congress leadership including Rahul Gandhi, during the next visit to Delhi, Sivakumar said, "such things will be there between us in the party.... you don't worry."
