BJP MP Pragya Thakur Extends Support to Nupur Sharma For Remarks on Prophet

While talking to reporters, the BJP MP said, “This is India, and it belongs to Hindus, and Sanatan Dharma will stay here. It’s our responsibility to keep it alive, and we’ll do it.”

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and Malegaon-blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday, June 9 extended support to suspended party spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remarks against Prophet Muhammad. 

While talking to reporters, the BJP MP said, “This is India, and it belongs to Hindus, and Sanatan Dharma will stay here. It’s our responsibility to keep it alive, and we’ll do it.”

When asked about her opinion on Nupur Sharma getting alleged death threats over her remarks, she said, “These non-believers have always done so. Kamlesh Tiwari said something and he was killed. Someone else [Nupur Sharma] said something and they also received a death threat. They distort our gods and goddess and make films about them. They have been doing this for years… That shows their mentality.”

Also read: In the Nupur Sharma Episode, Religiosity Wins Over Humanity

Hindutva leader Kamlesh Tiwari – who had been convicted for remarks against Prophet Muhammad – was murdered outside his house in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow on October 18, 2019.

Tiwari, according to news reports, was the “self-proclaimed” working president of the Hindu Mahasabha, on a ticket of which he had contested in the 2012 elections and lost.

It’s important to note here that the narrative over Tiwari’s murder – which the police had blamed on Muslim clerics – took a sharp twist after his family blamed local BJP leaders and the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for his killing. Tiwari’s mother and nephew had claimed that local BJP leader Shiv Kumar Gupta, a resident of Thatheri, had conspired to murder Tiwari over a ‘temple dispute’.

Apart from Nupur Sharma, another BJP leader, Naveen Jindal, also made allegedly derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad, which led to protests not just in India but also in the Gulf countries. The BJP suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal in the light of the foreign backlash.

Massive protests have taken place outside the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, in Kolkata’s Park Circus area and other cities across India demanding action against the BJP leaders for their remarks against Prophet Mohammad.

This is not the first time that Thakur has made such controversial remarks. In November 2019, Thakur referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a ‘deshbhakt’ (patriot), which had led to a furore in parliament as members of the opposition objected strongly to her statement.

Even in May 2019, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, Thakur had said “Nathuram Godse deshbakht the, hai, aur rahenge. Unko antakwadi kehne wale log swayam ke girebaan main jhank kar dekhe. Abke chunav main unhe jawab de diya jayega (Nathuram Godse was a patriot and will remain so. People calling him a terrorist should introspect. They will be given a befitting reply in these elections).”