Right-wing Indian MP says Hindus should keep knives at home for ‘self protection’

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A parliamentarian from prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said India’s Hindus should keep “weapons” and “knives” at home to protect themselves.

Pragya Thakur, the parliamentarian from central Madhya Pradesh state’s Bhopal city made the comments while speaking at the Hindu Jagarana Vedike’s South Region annual convention in Karnataka state’s Shivamogga on Sunday.

“Sanyasi (hermit) says in this world created by god, end all the oppressors and sinful, if not the true definition of love will not survive here,” she was quoted as saying by news agencyPress Trust of India.

“So answer those involved in Love Jihad the same way. Protect your girls, teach them the right values.”

The baseless Islamophobic conspiracy theory of “Love Jihad” is becoming increasingly mainstream in India, with several right-wing leaders, including members of the BJP, using it as a common refrain warning against Hindu women converting by marriage to Muslim men.

In February 2020, the federal home ministry informed the country’s parliament that the term “love jihad” was not defined under existing laws and no case has been reported by any federal government agency.

“Keep weapons in your homes, if nothing else, at least knives used to cut vegetables, sharp... Don’t know what situation will arise when.... Everyone has the right to self protection,” Thakur said in her speech.

“If someone infiltrates our house and attacks us, it is our right to respond to them. Just like how knives cut vegetables, it will also chop mouths and heads,” she said.

The MP is out on bail on health grounds and is a key accused in a 2008 bomb blast case.

Her comments have drawn backlash from commentators as well as opposition members, but there has not been any statement from the BJP yet.

This is not the first time Thakur has been accused of making incendiary and communally charged comments.

Last week, a court in Madhya Pradesh dismissed a plea against the MP that alleged she had made communal speeches and incited religious sentiments to win the national election in 2019, thereby violating Section 123 of the Representation of the People’s Act, reported LiveLaw.