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On Pragya Thakur's ‘sharpen knives’ remark, Kanhaiya's swipe at Amit Shah
BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, better known as Sadhvi Pragya, stoked controversy when she said that Hindus have the right to respond to those who attack them and called on the community to at least keep sharp knives in their homes.
Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday took a swipe at Union home minister Amit Shah over BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur's recent “sharpen the knives” remark. Addressing a gathering on the occasion of Congress' 138th Foundation Day in Mumbai, Kanhaiya Kumar said that Thakur was trying to mock Shah whose duty is to ensure the security of the nation.
"She talked about violence and I feel that there is some planning involved in this statement. The sadhvi was trying to mock the home minister of the country because it is the duty of the home minister to ensure security in a country. So I think sadhvi was trying to say that the home minister is useless so we all need to sharpen our knives," said Kumar.
"I would like to ask all the police personnel standing here if it is our duty to sharpen the knife. What the security forces will do, or the law will do if we will do the work of sharpening the knife? Why have we appointed the home minister, only to make his son the BCCI head," questioned Kumar.
Pragya Singh Thakur, better known as Sadhvi Pragya, stoked controversy when she said that Hindus have the right to respond to those who attack them and called on the community to at least keep sharp knives in their homes.
Addressing Hindu Jagarana Vedike's South Region annual convention in Karnataka's Shivamogga, she said, “Keep your daughters safe and protected. Keep weapons at home. Sharpen the knife used to cut vegetables. If our vegetables are cut well, heads and mouths of our enemies will also be cut well.”
An FIR has been registered against the BJP MP under sections 153A, 153B, 268, 295A, 298, 504 and 508 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the basis of a complaint by HS Sundaresh, president of Shivamogga District Congress Committee.
Thakur is one of the accused in the September 2008 bomb blast near a mosque in Maharashtra’s Malegaon that left six people dead.
"People who are actually virtuous never speak about violence. They never use hate language instead they speak only to unite people not to divide them. But Sadhvi Pragya is completely doing the opposite, she is asking people to keep 'sharpened knives' at home. Which type of sadhvi is she, I don't understand," Kanhaiya said.
