NEW DELHI: A group of civil servants has sought action against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Thakur for urging Hindus to stock weapons at home to cut the heads of Muslims and Christians in India.
Addressing an event organised by the Hindu Jagarana Vedike in Karnataka’s Shivamogga city on December 25, the Bhopal MP had asked Hindus: “Keep weapons in your homes, if nothing else, at least keep knives used to cut vegetables sharp.”
In response to the hate speech, the former civil servants in a statement issued under the banner of the Constitutional Conduct Group said that that Thakur was targeting Muslims with her remarks.
“It is also possible that she was sending out a warning against Christians and other non-Hindu communities as well,” they added. “She is obviously fomenting hate against non-Hindu communities and advocating violence against them.”
The statement was signed by 103 retired civil servants, including former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, former Indian Administrative Services officers Harsh Mander, Julio Ribeiro and Aruna Roy.
The former bureaucrats said strict action should be taken against Thakur as she has not only committed several offences under the Indian Penal Code but violated the oath taken by her as a Member of Parliament to uphold the Constitution of India. “By her incendiary hate speech and her repeated acts of propagating hate, she has forfeited the ethical right to be a Member of Parliament,” the statement added.
