Hindu Nun Facing Terrorism Charges

By Alison Lesley --
17 Jun 2019 --

The sadhvi is accused of conspiring to target Muslims in the 2008 Malegaon bombing

A Hindu ascetic, Pragya Singh Thakur has boasted about the role she had in destroying a medieval mosque[/tweetit]. She has also valorized the murderer of Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi, calling him a “patriot.” The recently elected member to the Parliament of India, Thakur is now facing trial on a terrorist conspiracy charge.

Hindu Nun Facing Terrorism Charges[/tweetthis]

The final hearing has been set for July 29 by the Bombay High Court for Thakur as well as two others accused of participating in the 2008 Malegaon bombing. Discharge applications have been filed. They have all been charged under different sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Many are talking about Thakur’s win in the recently concluded national polls and that it brings Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power with a huge mandate.

She is an unlikely legislator. After becoming a “sadhvi,” an honor for a Hindu nun, in her 30’s she was later charged in 2008 of conspiring to target Muslims in the Malegaon bombing. Thakur denies these charges.

The founders of the Republic of India envisioned the country to be a secular republic. Thakur’s controversial victory has shown an increasing influence of right-wing militant brand of Hindu ideology in India, which happens to be a country of over 1.3 billion people.

Tavleen Singh, a columnist who admires Modi, wrote that Thakur is the “worst example of poisonous, hate-infused” belief in Hindu supremacy. Singh went on to write for Modi to allow a someone charged with terrorism in the polls is inexcusable.

Ashamed to see her in our Parliament…#PragyaSinghThakur pic.twitter.com/yaZG6euOtT
— Priya Gupta (@priyagupta999) June 17, 2019

At some point, 159 of the newly elected Indian legislators have faced criminal charges. This number represents a 109 percent increase since the 2009 elections. However, election experts said there had not been a candidate charged under a terrorism statute in decades.

During the election campaign, Thakur asked the country to commit their vote to religion after describing it as a “religious war.”