Arrest Pragya for hate speech, incitement

Pragya Singh Thakur, BJP MP from Bhopal, has again crossed the Lakshman Rekha of permissible speech with her brazen remarks, which amounted to a call to arms against Muslims, at the Hindu Jagarana Vedike's convention in Shivamogga on Sunday. She asked Hindus to take care of their girl-children and keep weapons at home. “They stabbed our Harsha (a Bajrang Dal activist who was killed early this year), they have killed our Hindu heroes”, she said.

“Keep weapons at home. Keep them sharp. If our vegetables can be cut properly, surely the knives can cut the mouths and heads of our enemies.” She also touched upon all the pet themes of the Hindu right like ‘love jihad’ and made the most provocative statements that should attract legal action from the State and strong political responses. Petitions are being filed in courts for legal action against her. Police complaints have been filed, but the Karnataka Police has not taken any action and is dillydallying on demands for it.

Read | Congress files complaint against Pragya Singh Thakur for 'hate speech'

Pragya Singh’s pronouncements are nothing but incendiary speech and she should be booked for hate speech and incitement to violence. It is unfortunate that such a person has a place in parliament. Sections of the BJP and its supporters have sought to justify her words, arguing that she was talking about self-protection or self-defence and did not mention Muslims as such.

But it is clear what she meant. It is that Hindus should sharpen their knives against Muslims. It is a call to arms and is in the tradition of the genocide calls made in the past. The refusal to see the gravity of the call is deliberate and it only deepens the ecosystem of hatred and violence that exists in the country.

Pragya Singh is a terror-accused who is facing trial in the Malegaon bomb blasts case in which six people were killed. She is a repeat hate-monger and offender and has made the most outrageous and objectionable comments on many matters. She has praised Nathuram Godse and said that he was a patriot. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would not forgive her for that and the party’s disciplinary committee made a show of taking note of her comments. But there was no action and she has continued with her offensive remarks. It is not just the party that should take action. The State has to act against her because what she is repeatedly doing is to create disaffection and hatred, which is actionable under the law. Lack of any action against her means encouragement to her politics of hatred and provocation. With repeated statements like this, targeting and terrorising the minorities, especially the Muslims, the atmosphere of hatred becomes more and more vicious and gets normalised.