The Curious Case Of Pragya Singh Thakur – How Does She Do This?

BJP member of Lok Sabha Pragya Singh Thakur, out on bail as a terror accused, has made a statement about ‘marak shakti‘ (evil forces) killing off BJP bigwigs! How does she get away with all this?

While it is good to see any politician express themselves without fear or inhibition, Pragya Singh Thakur’s utterances in public are not just controversial and dangerous but also bereft of logic.

Maybe the confidence she has in saying what she wants to, comes from the fact that she has been elected as a member of Parliament in spite of being an accused in a terrorist attack.

She believes, in all seriousness apparently, that the reason for the death of senior leaders like Arun Jaitely and Sushma Swaraj is a result of ‘evil powers’ being used by opposition leaders.

It’s very hard to believe in statements like these. It would be harder to accept that she actually believes in what she has said over the past few months.

It also speaks a lot about the people who voted for her. They will accept it as the truth. Lots of them. And there are many more who may not believe in what she says, but will still support her anyways because of her party.

This is not her first controversial statement. And it will not be her last. She has made astounding remarks like these in the past. The very fact that she is still a member of BJP shows that they are willing to turn a blind eye to her activities as long as she gets them more votes.

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They are not bothered if she is spreading misinformation of all sorts as long as they believe that people will vote for her and others like her. And the fact that people have done that reinforces their belief.

They might admonish her in public or dissociate themselves from her views but it is pretty clear that they have given her all the backing that she needs. She won’t face any significant action whatever she does.

She is a part of a fringe that has become the mainstream now, which can get away with rape, murder, xenophobia, lynchings, corruption, terror and everything else under the sun. And that mainstream has all the support they need from media, executive, judiciary along with the monetary backing, both legitimate and illegitimate.

There is no point in discussing the merits of her statements because there are none. But you can ignore them only at your own peril.

A version of this was first published here.

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