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Myth explodes: Hindu saadhvi behind terror blasts in India
WSN Network 

Bhopal: For years, there was talk of Hindutva terror elements juxtaposed with stereotyping of the Sikhs as terrorists in the late eighties and Muslims as terrorists for some years now. Now, a wing of the Indian police in Maharashtra specially tasked to tackle terrorism related cases, the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), has arrested a Hindu sanyasin near Surat who has been found involved in blasts last month in Malegaon and Modasa.

Many Hindutva apologists have red faces and many in the Indian establishment have curious faces as the sadhvi, Pragya Singh Thakur, a former resident of Gwalior and active leader of the right wing Hindu nationalist party BJP's student wing ABVP till 1997, was found to have worked with the organization in Ujjain and Indore.

Indian media reported that she was a much-feared student leader in her college days in Madhya Pradesh who would ride motorcycles and later became a disciple of godman Avdeshanand Giri, taking sanyas during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad in 2006.

Police said Pragya, who had taken the name Purnachetanand Giri after taking sanyas, was found to be the owner of a bike used in the blasts in Malegaon and there were efforts to hide its ownership.

She was also connected to fire-brand communal leader Uma Bharati, now expelled from the BJP after a power war. Police has also found that involvement of a retired major. The Malegaon blast had killed six people ahead of Id. Two of sadhvi's associates, Shamlal Bhavar Sahu (42) and Shiv Narayan Singh (36), were also arrested for allegedly plotting as well as planting the bomb at Bhikku Chowk in central Malegaon.

Pragya, who has a postgraduate history degree from a Bhind college, was a member of Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. She had delivered ‘‘religious lectures’’ for more than seven years.

29 October 2008
 

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