News Analysis India

Tag: Pragya Singh Thakur

  • After BJP leader Aparna Yadav, now Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur receives threat call from ‘Iqbal Kaskar’s man’

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: First-time BJP MP from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat and 2008 Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur has received a death threat over the phone from a man posing as the aide of India’s most wanted fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar.

    The WhatsApp call to the BJP MP was made from the same phone number which was used for a similar death threat to ex-UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger daughter-in-law and UP BJP leader Aparna Yadav on Wednesday.

    The caller posing as Iqbal Kaskar’s man told Thakur through a WhatsApp call that she would be killed for targeting Muslims and spreading venom against the minority community.

    A 2.05 minutes video showing the first-time lawmaker talking to the caller has gone viral over social media. A case has subsequently been registered on the BJP MP’s complaint u/s 506 and 507 IPC against the unidentified caller at Bhopal’s TT Nagar police station on Saturday morning.

    Thakur received the WhatsApp call at around 1 am on Saturday, a short while after she had returned home from the BJP office in Bhopal.

    In the viral video, the caller is heard telling Thakur that she would be assassinated soon for spewing venom against the Muslims, on which she asks the caller “do the Muslims sprinkle nectar. What did I utter that pained you?”

    When she asked the caller, who is Iqbal Kaskar, the caller responded that she would come to know about it when she will be killed.

    The death threat WhatsApp call happened just a few days after Thakur defended and suspended BJP national spokesperson Nupur Sharma for the latter’s controversial remarks about Prophet Muhammad.

    Primary investigations into the matter by Bhopal police revealed that the death threat call was made to Thakur from the same number which was used for a death threat to another BJP leader and ex-UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav three days back, Bhopal police sources told The New Indian Express.

    Three days back, a caller had through a WhatsApp call threatened to kill Aparna Yadav within 72 hours.

    The common phone number from which death threats were made to Aparna Yadav and Pragya Thakur within three days was being operated from Dubai, sources privy to the ongoing investigations confided.Further investigations are underway.

  • BJP excludes controversial Pragya from local poll panel in her own constituency

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL:  Known for making controversial remarks, which often embarrass her own party, the 2008 Malegaon Blast accused and first-time BJP MP, Pragya Singh Thakur, doesn’t figure in the saffron party’s committee for urban local body polls in Bhopal.

    Recently, the state BJP constituted a selection panel of senior leaders for selecting party’s candidates for the next month’s urban local body elections. The committees were constituted for seven divisions, including Gwalior-Chambal, Sagar, Shahdol-Rewa, Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal-Narmadapuram and Jabalpur divisions.

    For the Bhopal-Narmadapuram division (which comprises three Lok Sabha seats, Bhopal, Vidisha and Hoshangabad), a nine-member strong committee was constituted to select the candidates for the urban local body polls slated to be held in two phases on July 6 and 13.

    The nine committee members included first time MP from Vidisha Ramakant Bhargava (considered close to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan) and third-time sitting MP from Hoshangabad Uday Pratap Singh. But, the third Lok Sabha member of the division, the first time MP from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, wasn’t included in the panel.

    The development happened the same day when Thakur had defended suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Reacting to the party not considering her in the panel, Thakur tweeted “One reply to all questions is I respect the party organisation’s decision not to include me in the committee for selecting candidates.”

  • Wear hijab in madrassas and at home, not in schools, colleges, it won’t be tolerated: Pragya Thakur

    The Lok Sabha member from Bhopal also said that Hindus worship women and don't see them in evil manner. Thakur was speaking at a function in a temple in Barkheda Pathani area here.

  • Malegaon blast case: Accused BJP MP Pragya Thakur appears before Mumbai court

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: BJP’s Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, appeared before a special NIA court here on Wednesday.

    She appeared before special judge P R Sitre, hearing cases related to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

    Thakur’s lawyer said that although the court had not summoned the MP, she appeared on her own as she was in Mumbai for her medical treatment.

    The BJP leader had last appeared before the court in the case in January this year.

    Seven persons, including Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, are facing trial in the case.

    A total of eight witnesses have turned hostile in the case so far.

    Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.

    According to police, the motorbike was registered in Thakur’s name and that led to her arrest in 2008.

    The Bombay High Court had granted bail to her in 2017.

    She is being tried under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other relevant laws.

  • Rename Habibganj railway station after Vajpayee: BJP MP Pragya Thakur

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Bhopal’s BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Pragya Singh Thakur has demanded renaming of Habibganj railway station in the Madhya Pradesh capital after former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to dedicate the newly renovated railway station with airport-like facilities to public during his visit here on November 15.

    “Arrival of hon’ble Prime Minister on 15/11/2021 to participate in Janajatiy Gaurav Diwas is a good omen for Bhopal. I am sure that Modi ji will announce to rename Habibganj railway station in the name of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji and fulfil my old request,” Thakur said in a tweet on Thursday.

    During his visit, the PM will participate in a mega tribal convention organised on the birth anniversary of tribal leader Birsa Munda.

  • Pragya says her Akhada will vet controversial films before release, warns filmmakers against hurting Hindu sentiments

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Accusing filmmakers of hurting sentiments of the Sanatan Dharma in the name of entertainment, Bhopal BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur on Monday said the Bharat Bhakti Akhada headed by her will create a separate department to vet scripts, contents of movies and web series, and if needed will not allow the making of controversial films.

    She also threatened to stop the shooting of the third season of the web series “Ashram”, a day after suspected Bajrang Dal activists vandalised the set of ‘Ashram’ in Bhopal and threw ink on director Prakash Jha.

    The activists had accused Jha of portraying Hindus in a bad light.

    Police arrested four people for the ruckus.

    Thakur said that various forms of entertainment should give the right direction to society and not hurt the sentiments.

    “They (filmmakers) are forcing us to watch movies and take action against them. We will not tolerate anybody maligning the Sanatan Dharma,” Thakur told a news channel in reply to a question about linking Sunday’s incident with the upcoming elections.

    Thakur said seers don’t watch movies but the Bharat Bhakti Akhada (formed by her in February 2019) will set up a separate department to vet script (of controversial movies) and movies before their release or “we will not allow the making of such films”.

    “I will take action against such persons (those making movies on these subjects) in the Censor Board,” she said.

    The BJP leader further said she will write a letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in this regard and take legal action.

    Earlier in the day, a group of seers submitted a memorandum to Thakur demanding the release of the men arrested for ransacking the set of ‘Ashram-3’ at the Old Jail in Bhopal’s Arera Hills.

    Talking to reporters on the occasion, Thakur threatened to stop the shooting of the web series.

    “An ‘ashram’ is an arrangement of sadhus under the Sanatan Dharma. It is not a subject that anybody can portray in a bad light. An ashram is not a subject on which anybody can raise a finger. A person can be wrong and action can be taken against such people under the existing system. But it will not be tolerable if anyone defames this (Ashram) arrangement of the Sanatan Dharma or Hindus and religious leaders,” she said.

    Thakur alleged that the image of the Sanatan Dharma was being maligned in the name of entertainment.

    “Being a sanyasi, I can feel the pain of sadhus. Our mind gets pleased and starts emanating good feelings when we hear the word ‘Ashram’ but this is being presented in a distorted form,” she added.

    Thakur alleged the sentiments (of Hindus) were being hurt through various entertainment mediums since Independence in the absence of leadership in the country.

    “The movies have become a medium to hurt the sentiments of Hindus. This should stop now, not only in MP but in the entire country,” she said.

    She dared filmmakers to make films on subjects like church, madrasa (Muslim seminary), the Bible and the Quran.

    Thakur said directors and producers of communist ideology are continuously targeting Hindus, their history and idols since Independence.

    “Nobody makes movies on the subject like ‘Love Jihad’ and there is also a Jameen (land) jihad going on under which the land is being grabbed on a large scale not only in Bhopal but also at other places,” she alleged.

    After the Sunday incident, Madhya Pradesh Home minister Narottam Mishra Monday said producers and directors will have to inform authorities about objectionable content or scenes in their stories before seeking permission for shooting in the state.

  • Pragya Thakur terms man who shot her kabaddi video as ‘Ravana’ 

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: After a viral video showed her playing kabaddi, Bhopal’s BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, who was confined to a wheelchair for a long time and had obtained bail in the 2008 Malegaon blast case on medical grounds, described the one who shot and circulated the clip as “Ravana” and said his old age and next birth will get spoiled.

    Thakur was speaking during a Dussehra programme in Bhopal’s Sant Nagar (Bairagarh), a Sindhi community-dominated area, on Friday night.

    “I went for offering aarti (at a Durga pandal) two days back, when some sportsmen playing on a ground requested me to conduct a (kabaddi) raid. A small clip of this was captured and shown in the media,” she said.

    “If someone fretted and fumed, it was Ravana among you, some Sindhi brother… someone who is a big enemy (of mine). I am not his enemy, but he considered me as his enemy. I don’t know what precious thing I snatched from him… But Ravana can be anywhere,” she added.

    “I am telling the person, whose sanskaras have got spoiled, to mend them. If you don’t, your old age and next birth will also get spoiled because whenever anyone has clashed with the patriots, revolutionaries and above all saints, neither Ravana or Kansa survived, nor will the ‘adharmi’ or ‘vidharmi’ of the present be saved,” she said.

    She said that her ‘tapasya’ (penance) and meditation was for public.

    READ HERE | Pragya Thakur, out on bail on health grounds, seen playing kabaddi in latest video 

    The video that went viral on social media showed Thakur playing a game of kabaddi on the premises of a Kali temple.

    Earlier, another video of her taking part in a Garba dance during the just-concluded Navratri festival had emerged.

    Defending the Bhopal MP, her elder sister Upma Thakur had earlier said that she suffers from a spine problem, which can give trouble to her any time.

    “You never know at which moment it can create problems for her. There is a problem with her L4 and L5 bones (vertebrae) as they got dislocated because ATS Maharashtra (investigators) threw her on the floor.

    “Whenever these problems occur, the lower portion (of her body) is left with no sensation…. It can happen even when she sits or gets down from a vehicle,” Upma had said.

    On the other, MP Congress leaders, while taking a swipe at Pragya Thakur accused her of having many faces as sometimes she is seen in a wheelchair, sometime she plays Garba and kabaddi too.

  • MP govt withdraws bull sterilisation campaign after Pragya Thakur cries ‘conspiracy’

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday withdrew a bull sterilisation campaign after it faced strong criticism from BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, who termed the programme as an attempt to put an end to indigenous cows.

    “I brought the order (of bulls’ sterilisation) into the notice of Chief Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) and Animal Husbandry Minister (Prem Singh Patel).

    “(After I brought the issue to their notice) The order was cancelled today,” Thakur told reporters here on Wednesday night.

    The Lok Sabha MP from Bhopal dubbed the campaign as “an internal conspiracy”.

    She said, “I feel this is an internal conspiracy and there is a need to be careful because no one can ever destroy the indigenous cow. It should not even be done. How this happened is a matter of investigation.”

    Thakur said she will urge the Chief Minister to order a probe to find out how it all happened.

    Earlier in the day, the Animal Husbandry Department shared the order halting the bull sterilisation campaign on its official Twitter handle.

    The order, issued by department’s Director RK Mehia and addressed to all deputy directors of the department, said the campaign to sterilise bulls on a mass scale, which started on October 4, has been immediately stopped.

    The campaign was scheduled to continue till October 23.

  • BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur seeks in-depth probe in death of top Hindu seer Mahant Narendra Giri

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: BJP Lok Sabha MP Pragya Singh Thakur on Tuesday sought a thorough probe either by the CBI, NIA or any other agency into the death of Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri.

    Talking to reporters here, Thakur said it is sad that Mahant Giri died under “mysterious circumstances”.

    The noted seer, who was the president of the largest organisation of sadhus in India, was found hanging by his disciples at Baghambari Muth in Prayagraj on Monday.

    A purported suicide note was also found, in which the seer had written that he was mentally disturbed and upset with one of his disciples, the Uttar Pradesh police had said.

    “I am fully confident that the UP’s Yogi Adityanath government will take up the issue and deliver justice. A thorough probe should be carried out either by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), an SIT (Special Investigation Team) or the NIA (National Investigation Agency) into the seer’s death,” the MP from Bhopal said.

    Thakur said people look up to seers for guidance in life and this incident where a well-known mahant was “killed or forced to kill himself” was a matter of concern.

    Later, talking to a news channel, she suspected the involvement of a third party in the tragic episode.

    “Amid the alleged involvement of his disciple to kill him either mentally or physically, I think there may be involvement of a third party who are vidharmis (heretics). I had spoken to Maharaj ji during the Kumbh.”

    “I told him ‘you bring ‘vidharmis’ to the centre of our faith and get them involved in rituals but they will not spare you when they get an opportunity’,” Thakur said.

    On asked who are the ‘vidharmis’ she was referring to, the Lok Sabha MP said those who speak against the country and religion, and try to link saffron and Hindutva with terror.

  • BJP MP Pragya Thakur targets martyred cop Hemant Karkare again

    By PTI
    SEHORE: BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur on Friday alleged that Hemant Karkare, the former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief who investigated the 2008 Malegaon blast case in which she is an accused, had tortured her former teacher during questioning.

    Speaking at a function here, the Bhopal MP said Emergency-like situation prevailed when she was arrested in a “false case” in 2008, and alleged that Karkare, during his probe, “broke the fingers of my teacher who had taught me in Class eight asking what I used to do (as a student).”

    It was done to “cook up a false case and gather false evidence”, said Thakur, adding that true patriots do not call Karkare, a Maharashtra IPS officer who died in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, a patriot.

    In 2019, Thakur had said that Karkare died as she had “cursed” him for ill-treating her in custody.

    She later apologized when the remark caused outrage.