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Fielding Pragya Sadvi is not shocking, but painful

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While nominating Sadhvi Pragya as party candidate, the BJP did not think about the kind of message this would send

Meer Abass

By fielding Sadhvi Pragya, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants people to believe that she and other accused arrested in various blast cases were ‘framed in fabricated cases’ and that ‘saffron terror’ is a myth.
But while doing so the, BJP has undermined the fact that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur still remains a key accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. As per court papers, the first evidence that led to her arrest was the ‘LML Freedom’ motorcycle that was registered in her name and was used to plant the bomb.
There are also some audio tapes and visuals too. Based on these evidences, the Bombay trial court judge had observed that there was enough ground to establish Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s role in the blast.
Ironically, while nominating Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur as the party candidate, the BJP did not think about the kind of message this would send to all the world leaders with whom Narendra Modi has often taken up the issue of terrorism and made it a focal point in deciding relations with various countries including Pakistan.
The people of Malegaon, who had been hearing about the pressure on some officers and public prosecutor Rohini Salian ‘to go soft’ in the case, have almost lost all hope of getting justice.
Wife of Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare – the officer who initially investigated the case – had turned down then-Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s monetary compensation after 26/11 attacks.
Therefore, the BJP’s decision to field Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in this election is neither shocking nor surprising for most people in Malegaon. But it is painful, especially for the blast victims and their families.
Sadhvi Pragya is not a Sadhvi (lady priest) she is accused of a terror act, and is yet to face a court verdict. She earns praise from some right wing forces because these forces have been banking on a mindset that celebrates Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi.
The way Pragya was bailed out, and Karkare was killed shows that some elements believe in providing immunity to Hindu terrorism in India. Institutions which probe these terror incidents need not to become part of the larger design of these forces who are aiming to cleanse minorities from India in lieu with Golwalker’s bunch of Thoughts.
There is a threat to the social fabric of India and if terrorism (of any sorts and manifestations) gets patronage in India, the very concept of secular hood and coexistent society will be defeated.

(The writer is an Assistant Professor working at the Department of English, Government Degree College Handwara. The views expressed are his own and Kashmir Vision does not necessarily subscribe to them)


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