Pragya Singh Thakur (born 2 February 1970; ), better known as Sadhvi Pragya (), is an Indian politician and former Member of Parliament who represented

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

and belongs to the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. During her college days, she was an active member of

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is a student organization in India, registered as a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1949. It's a significant student union with over 5 million members, making it one of the largest student or ...

(ABVP) and later joined various affiliate organisations of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(RSS). She is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bombings where 10 people were killed and 82 more were injured. She was arrested on terror charges after her bike was found to be used in the bomb blast. She is currently under trial for multiple charges under the

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is an Indian law aimed at the prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sover ...

. In 2017 she was granted

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

on health grounds following the dropping of some of the serious charges by the

National Investigation Agency The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the principal counter-terrorism law enforcement agency in India. Established under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, it is tasked with investigating and combating offenses related to terroris ...

. Thakur contested the

2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and vote ...

from Bhopal constituency, running against

Digvijaya Singh Digvijaya Singh (born 28 February 1947) is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since 2014. He is a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and Ex-General Secretary of the Indian National Congress party's ...

of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, the former

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ' ...

. She won her debut contest by a margin of votes. On 21 November 2019 Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was made a part of the 21-member parliamentary consultative committee on defence, which is headed by

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician and lecturer who is serving the Defence Minister of India since 20 May 2019. He was also the Deputy Leader of the House, Lok Sabha since 2014. He also served the Home Minister in th ...

. After her comment in parliament, where she called

Nathuram Godse Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) () was an Indian Hindu nationalist and political activist who was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith praye ...

(

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

's assassin) a patriot, she was criticised by opposition party members. On 28 November, she was removed from the committee on defence as well as BJP parliamentary party meetings.

Personal life

Thakur was born on 2 February 1970. Her father, Chandrapal Singh, was an

Ayurvedic Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

practitioner in

Bhind Bhind is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the headquarters of the Bhind district. Geography Bhind is located at . It has an average elevation of 474 metres (1555 ft). Demog ...

, Madhya Pradesh and a worker of

. She had been a

tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...

since her

childhood A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

, keeping her hair short, and dressing like a boy. She was often called 'the girl with boyish looks'. She loved riding bikes. It was a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

registered on her name which led to her arrest in connection with the Malegaon blasts.

Cancer treatment

Cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon Dr. S. S. Rajput of the

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences The Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (Dr. RMLIMS), is a medical institute with State university (India), state university status located in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The institute offers MBBS, Bachelor of Science in Nursi ...

, Lucknow said that Thakur underwent a bilateral

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer choose to have ...

to prevent recurrence of her cancer in 2008, stating he had operated on her three times. She had been operated twice to surgically remove both her breasts to cure her breast cancer. She was criticised for saying that her breast

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

got cured because of using

cow urine Cow urine, gomutra or gōmēz is a liquid by-product of metabolism in cows. It has a sacred role in Zoroastrianism and some forms of Hinduism. Urophagia, the consumption of urine, was used in several ancient cultures for various health, heal ...

and

Panchagavya Panchagavya or panchakavyam is a mixture used in traditional Hindu rituals that is prepared by mixing five ingredients. The three direct constituents are cow dung, cow urine, and milk; the two derived products are curd and ghee. These are mixe ...

Political career

Thakur studied at

Lahar A lahar (, from ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of Pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a valley, river valley. Lahars are o ...

College (Bhind), where, in 1993, she joined Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sangh Parivar. She subsequently rose to the position of state secretary and left this organisation in 1997. After that, she worked for Rashtrawadi Sena and the

Hindu Jagran Manch Hindu Jagran Manch also called H.J.M (translation: Forum for Hindu Awakening) is a right-wing Indian Hindu missionary group affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). It focuses on religious conversion from Muslims and Christians to Hi ...

. She was also a member of Durga Vahini, women's wing of Hindu organisation

Bajrang Dal Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was foun ...

. She is also a founder member of Vande Mataram Jan Kalyan Samiti, which is an organisation connected to the

and belongs to the

Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the RSS" or the "RSS family") is an umbrella term for the collection of Hindutva organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which remain affiliated to it. These include the pol ...

2019 General Elections

Thakur joined the

on 17 April 2019 and was declared as the BJP candidate for Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency for

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

. Thakur was in the news for saying that Mumbai former ATS chief Hemant Karkare died in

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...

because she cursed him for giving her bad treatment in jail after her arrest in 2008 blasts. BJP leader Fatima Rasool Siddique said her communal and obnoxious remarks have tarnished the image of Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Muslims and she will not campaign for Thakur.

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

directed the police to file an FIR against Thakur for her

Babri Masjid The Babri Masjid (ISO: Bābarī Masjida; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque located in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was claimed that the mosque was built upon the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the legendary birthplace ...

remark that she participated in

demolition of the Babri Masjid The Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya, was destroyed on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The mosque had been the subject of a lengthy socio ...

at Ayodhya in 1992. The Election Commission later banned her for 72 hours from campaigning for violating the Model Code of Conduct by stirring up communal feelings. She was later criticised by BJP party leaders for saying that the killer of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

was and always will be a patriot. Nevertheless, Thakur won the election by a margin of votes defeating opposing candidate

, a two-time

Parliamentary committee on defence

On 21 November 2019 Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has been made a part of the 21-member parliamentary consultative committee on defence, which is headed by

. After her comment in parliament, where she called

(Gandhi's assassin) a patriot, she was criticised by opposition party members. On 28 November, she was sacked from the committee on defence as well as BJP parliamentary party meetings.

2008 Malegaon bombings

Following the 2008 Malegaon bombings, in which six people were killed and over 100 injured, Thakur was arrested as one of the prime accused in October 2008 under terrorism charges.

Arrest and trial

Mumbai's Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) claimed that Thakur formed a group to take revenge for the 2006 Mumbai train bombings and that her motorcycle was used in the bomb blast. This motorcycle was a key

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

in the arrest of Thakur. On 19 January 2009, Maharashtra Police filed a 4000-page charge sheet for the Malegaon blasts. According to this charge sheet, Lt Col Prasad Purohit was claimed to be the main conspirator who provided the explosives and Thakur arranged the persons who planted the explosive. It was claimed that on 11 April 2008, Thakur and Purohit met in Bhopal wherein both agreed for co-operation in carrying out the blast. However, the charges framed against the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act were dropped for Thakur in July 2009 because Thakur was not proven to be a member of this organised crime syndicate.

Swami Aseemanand Swami Aseemanand (born Naba Kumar Sarkar) is a self-proclaimed monk and a former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist who was accused in the Ajmer Dargah bombing, Mecca Masjid blast, and the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings— before being acqu ...

in his on-camera confessions named Thakur as one of the key conspirators in the 2008 Malegaon, Ajmer Dargah, and

Samjhauta Express The Samjhauta Express () was a twice-weekly train, Thursday and Monday, that ran between Delhi and Attari in India and Lahore in Pakistan. In Hindi and Urdu languages, the word ''Samjhauta'' means an "agreement" or an "accord", especially ...

terror blasts.

Bail pleas

Thakur had challenged the Bombay High court order of 12 March 2010 rejecting her plea for

, contending that her arrest violated the mandate of Article 22(1) and 22(2) of

the Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

and also on the ground that no charge sheet was filed within 90 days as contemplated by Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. She contended that she was arrested by the Maharashtra Police's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Surat on 10 October 2008, but was brought before the magistrate on 24 October, and thus was in illegal detention for 14 days which violated Article 22(2). On 23 September 2011, the Supreme Court dismissed the bail plea. Dismissing her plea, the bench of Justice JM Panchal and Justice HL Gokhale said "The appellant's contention that she was arrested on October 10, 2008, and was in police custody since then is found to be factually incorrect by this Court. The appellant was arrested only on October 23, 2008, and within 24 hours thereof, on October 24, 2008, she was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nasik. As such, there is no violation of either Article 22(2) of the Constitution or Section 167 of Cr.PC." In 2012 she also filed an application for bail in the Bombay High Court on health grounds, claiming that she has been diagnosed with third-stage breast cancer. On 9 August 2012, she, however, withdrew her application. In 2014 she again filed an application for bail in the Bombay High Court which was rejected. In April 2017, she was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on health grounds, following the dropping of charges in under the

MCOCA The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (Mah. 30/1999) is a law enacted by the state of Maharashtra in India in 1999 to combat organised crime and terrorism. Known as "MCOCA", the Act provides the State Government with special power ...

section by the Special

. She is currently under trial for multiple charges under the

Allegations of torture

Thakur has made, directly or indirectly, several claims about ill-treatment in prison. In August 2014, the

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

ordered a probe into Thakur's allegations of torture while in police custody. Subsequently, the case of torture was closed as the panel did not find any evidence to support these claims.

Opinions

In December 2020, while addressing a gathering of Kshatriya Mahasabha Thakur made a controversial remark. She said that Brahmins don't feel bad when called ''Brahmin'', so do

Kshatriya Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

s and

Vaishya Vaishya (Sanskrit: वैश्य, ''vaiśya'') is one of the four varnas of the Vedic Hindu social order in India. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of Varna hierarchy. The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly of agriculture, takin ...

s. But

Shudra Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four varnas of the Hindu class and social system in ancient India. Some sources translate it into English as a caste, or as a social class. Theoretically, Shudras constituted a class like work ...

s do not like to be called as ''Shudra'' because of ignorance, they are "unable to understand". During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2021, Thakur made public remarks addressing BJP party workers in

claiming that drinking

helps infected people heal from the effects of the virus. "I consumed cow urine daily and it is a kind of acid which purifies my body. It also purifies the lungs and saves me from COVID-19 infection. I don’t take any medicine against corona but I am safe." The purported benefits of drinking cow urine have no scientific backing. During the 2022 Karnataka hijab row defending the ban on hijab, Thakur said that there is "no need to wear hijab anywhere" and that only those who are "not safe in their houses need to wear Hijab". She also said that there is no need to wear a hijab when in the company of the Hindu community, especially at educational institutions. She also stated her support for

Nupur Sharma Nupur Sharma (born 23 April 1985) is an Indian politician. She was the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) until June 2022. She frequently represented BJP on Indian television debates as an official spokesperson. In June 2 ...

for the latter's controversial remarks on Muhammad.

References

External links

* (Account closed) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thakur, Pragya Singh 1970 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh People charged with terrorism India MPs 2019–2024 National Democratic Alliance candidates in the 2019 Indian general election Women members of the Lok Sabha Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh Indian people imprisoned on terrorism charges Indian torture victims 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings Hindu nationalists 21st-century Indian women politicians