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Pragya Singh Thakur

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Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur
Born
Pragya Chandrapal Singh Thakur

Dhatiya district, Madhya Pradesh, India
Nationality India
Other namesSadhvi Purnachetnagiri
Known forOne of the prime accused persons in Malegaon blasts happened on September 29, 2008
ParentChandrapal Singh Thakur (Father)

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is an Indian woman accused of orchestrating the Malegaon blasts of 2008 and is currently awaiting trial.

Biography

Early life

Pragya Singh was born to Dr. Chandrapal Singh Thakur, a long-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker and believer in its core ideology of "Hindu rashtra".[1] According to her father, Pragya was a tough girl since her childhood and that she fought against "injustice" and "anti-social" activities. She and her sister once beat up a group of boys so severely that they were pleading for mercy.[2]

Pragya was said to have been a tomboy since her childhood, keeping short hair, and dressing like a boy, even few believe she is lesbian. She was often called 'the girl with boyish looks'. She loved riding bikes. It was a motorcycle registered on her name which led to her arrest in connection with the Malegaon blasts.[3]

Political Career

Pragya studied at Lahar Collage(Bhind), where, in 1993, she joined Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the youth wing of the Hinduist right-wing party Bhartiya Janata Party. She subsequently rose to the position of state secretary and left this organization in 1997. After that she also worked for Rashtrawadi Sena and the Hindu Jagran Manch. She was also a member of Durga Vahini, women's wing of Hindu organization Bajrang Dal. Both these organizations are associated with the hardline VHP and associated with violence. She is also a founder member of Vande Mataram Jan Kalyan Samiti, which is a organization connected to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and belongs to the Sangh Parivar.[4]

Malegaon blast case

Arrest and trial

Thakur is one of the prime accused in the Malegaon blasts case of September 29, 2008. Mumbai's Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) claimed that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur formed a group to take revenge for the Mumbai train bomb blasts and that her motorcycle was used in bomb blast. This motorcycle was a key evidence in the arrest of Sadhvi.[5] She sold the motorcycle in 2004, to a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh volunteer who was later murdered (as some Hindu groups claim) by members of SIMI.

On 19 January 2009, Maharashtra Police filed a 4000 page charge sheet for the Malegaon Blast. According to this charge sheet Lt Col Prasad Purohit is the main conspirator who provided the explosives and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur arranged the persons who planted the explosive. On April 11, 2008, Sadhvi Pragya Singh and Lt Col Prasad Purohit met in Bhopal. In this meeting both agreed to for cooperation in carrying out the blast.[6] However, the Maharashtra Control of Crime Act was dropped against Thakur in July 2009 due to the fact that Thakur was not proven to be a member of an organized crime syndicate.[7]

Swami Aseemanad in his alleged confessions named Prgaya Singh Thakur as one of the key conspirators in the 2008 malegaon, ajmer dargah and samjhauta express terror blasts. [8]

Reaction to her arrest

After Thakur's arrest, several leading right-wing leaders protested against her arrest, mostly on the basis that a right-wing activist could not be involved in such cases.

  • Uma Bharati, Founder president of Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS), defended Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and said "The Sadhvi is not a violent-minded person and she was an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist. She cannot be involved in any subversive activity"[9] Uma Bharati also offer party ticket of upcoming election to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur [10]
  • Baba Ramdev called Sadhvi Pragya Singh Innocent and said he is with her. RSS leader Ram Madhav said that allegations against Sadhvi are baseless and they support Sadhvi.[11]
  • Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) launched a campaign against the arrest of Sadhvi and others.[12]
  • Right wing parties, Abhinav Bharat and Hindu Mahasabha, also announced for the full legal support of Malegaon blast accused, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.[13]
  • In a speech Pramod Muthalik, chief of Sri Ram Sena, declared Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur as a symbol of revolution, she is revolutionary (Kranti Kari). He compared her with Kittur Chanamma, Jhansi ki Rani and Bhagat Singh. He said that people must not call her a terrorist, as this will hurt the current revolution of country.[14]

Uma Bharti and Ritambara have come out in support of Sadhvi Pragya and termed the latest development as a pre-planned conspiracy to frame Hindu groups.

BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani said that if she is found guilty, she should be punished. The ABVP have distanced themselves from Sadhvi Pragya, saying she was a former member of ABVP and had no recent links with the organization.

Allegations of torture

Pragya Singh Thakur has made, directly or indirectly, several claims about ill-treatment in prison. Raj Thackeray claimed that the ATS was torturing her in her cell[15]Thakur was also taken to her hospital in jeep instead of ambulance [16] Thakur in her confinement lost a significant amount of weight, leading the MCOCA to order an investigation into allegations of torture at the hands of the ATS[17]

Pragya sent an open letter to the media, threatening to commit suicide inside the jail, due to the ill-treatment meted out to her.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/04sld1.htm
  2. ^ http://www.breakingnewsonline.net/2008/10/pragnya-singh-thakur-sadhvi-or.html
  3. ^ http://sify.com/news/imagegallery/galleryDetail.php?hgallery=14788229
  4. ^ http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne151108the_fiery.asp
  5. ^ http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080070287
  6. ^ http://www.zeenews.com/nation/2009-01-20/500297news.html
  7. ^ Malegaon case: MCOCA charge against Sadhvi, Purohit dropped Rediff - July 31, 2009
  8. ^ Swami's confession
  9. ^ http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20081026/1089373.html
  10. ^ http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2008/10/30153838/BJS-offers-party-ticket-to-Sad.html
  11. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOpxEf4aZno
  12. ^ http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=NLetter&id=27ba94c5-4236-419f-9341-ef80a0a41303&&Headline=VHP+to+launch+campaign+to+protest+Malegaon+blast+arrests
  13. ^ http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14792783
  14. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLuwVYA77vA
  15. ^ ATS torturing Malegaon suspects: Thackeray Indian Express - November 12, 2008
  16. ^ a b I'll kill myself in jail
  17. ^ Reply to Pragya torture charges, court tells ATS Daily Pioneer - February 05, 2011

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