A key suspect in RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi’s murder and the Malegaon blasts case, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, even today is languishing in jail. She is suffering from cancer and her treatment is going on at a hospital in Bhopal. There were reports about her condition deteriorating day by day. She is in prison from last 7 years and now she has been diagnosed with cancer.
When UPA was in power, ‘some’ said government has to pay for these ‘deed’ against Hindu saints. They alleged a conspiracy against ‘Hindus’. Some said Sadhvi Pragya Singh should be released immediately with full honour. The police personnel are responsible for her wrong arrest and should apologise publicly. Some even alleged that Congress has conspired to put Hindus in bad name. Many people expressed their anger against UPA, declaring Sadhvi as an innocent and her arrest as a ploy.
There was too much noise about Sadhvi on social network and cyber world. Some started a dedicated website to get her justice and some even ran campaigns for her release. Everyone was thinking, the moment Modi will swear in, within a day or two all Hindu saints and activists who are behind bars would be released. It’s been more than two months, no such thing has happened. Those who provoked the sentiment of Hindus and fanned the issues of Sadhvi and others now forget to look into the matter. It means they are agreeing that the Saffron terror exists. If Sadhvi’s arrest was a conspiracy then why BJP is silent even after two months of assuming power? Thakur, who has been in custody of Bhopal police since 2011, is suffering from multiple ailments and is under treatment at Pandit Khushilal Ayurveda Hospital. She was arrested by Maharashtra ATS in connection with Malegaon blasts in 2008. She was later arrested by MP police in February 2011 for her alleged role in Sunil Joshi’s murder.
When police had killed proven dreaded Jehadi terrorists like Sohrabuddin and Ishrat Jahan in Ahmedabad, the entire machinery, be it the human rights activists, the media, the “liberals”, all were in full throttle, but everyone is silent in this case? Is this out of the purview of human rights? No chargesheet has been submitted even after 6 years of her arrest. Police failed to find even an iota of evidence against her. Her health began deteriorating a year ago after which she was admitted to Pandit Khushilal Sharma Ayurveda Hospital. Nearly seven years after the murder of RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has concluded that the Madhya Pradesh Police arrested the wrong people, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. Joshi, an accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts and the Samjhauta and Ajmer blasts in 2007, was found dead in Dewas on December 29, 2007.
According to the NIA probe, Joshi was killed by Lokesh Sharma and Rajender Pehalwan, both accused in the Samjhauta blasts case, for allegedly misbehaving with Thakur. The duos were reportedly helped by Dilip Jagtap and Jitender Sharma. All the four have been arrested. Sharma, a BJP youth wing leader, was arrested from Mhow, after which the NIA claimed the probe had been completed. The group also feared that Joshi may expose their alleged involvement in bomb blast cases. Lokesh Sharma and Rajender Pehalwan are also reported to have had a financial dispute with Joshi. The agency then plans to approach the MP special court seeking to drop the charges against Pragya Singh Thakur, Harshad Solanki, Vasudev Parmar, Anand Raj Kataria and BJP councillor Ramcharan Patel, who were booked under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) by the MP Police.
While Thakur, still an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, is currently in jail, Parmar, Kataria and Patel were released on bail few years ago. Solanki is still in jail for his alleged role in other crimes. The MP Police, in its chargesheet filed in 2011, had claimed that Joshi was shot by Harshad Solanki. It had said that Joshi was killed because Solanki and the others had started regarding him as a threat. Years after arrest not a single case has been registered against Pragya but torture in custody is nearly finishing her. She had charged ATS with torture and harassment but there has been no respite. Either the woman’s commission or human rights panel has to come forward and help her.
There is another story from 2009. RSS leader Shyam Apte has alleged two RSS leaders, including then general secretary Mohan Bhagwat of being funded by Pakistan’s ISI. Malegaon blast accused Dayanand Pandey said in his confessional statement to the police. Pandey told in his statement, that in August 2008, he had gone to Pune where he met with RSS leader Shyam Apte who told him about (Indresh) Kumar (Muslim wing leader of RSS) and Bhagwat taking money from ISI. Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, after learning about which, had asked one Captain Joshi to murder the two. The statement said Joshi was, however, not able to execute the murder which had infuriated Apte. Pandey said the entire Malegaon blast conspiracy was hatched by Purohit and co-accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur who wanted to take the lead in the cause of Hindutva and “avenge the deaths of Hindus caused by Muslims across the country”. In January 2008, Pandey attended a meeting of Abhinav Bharat in Faridabad in which Purohit, co-accused Sudhakar Chaturvedi and retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay were present. In the meeting, Purohit spoke extensively about the setting up of a “Hindu Rashtra” with its own Constitution for the protection of Hindus. In June 2008, Pandey had gone to Indore where he met the Sadhvi who told him that she had asked Purohit to arrange for explosives for the protection of Hindus.
There were many such headlines back to back in those days about confessions by these ‘accused’. However, neither Congress acted swiftly nor BJP is acting. This case is being prolonged with no concrete direction. My question is that, have they only forgotten Sadhvi’s case or other issues also as per their convenience? Can Sadhvi expect ‘Achche Din’ for her?
