ITANAGAR, Apr 25: A group of academics and researchers have started a petition against the nomination of terror accused Pragya Thakur, who is the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal.
Thakur is the key accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
The petition has so far garnered more than 1800 signatures, and is addressed to the president, the prime minister, the National Commission for Minorities, the National Human Rights Commission, the chief justice of India, and the Election Commission of India.
“This is the first time a major political party in India is giving ticket to someone accused of terrorism. Thakur is under trial under stringent sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in a Mumbai court, and is out on bail citing ‘health grounds’,” the petition reads.
The petition adds that the very act of her nomination should be seen as “perpetrating violence and injustice against the families of the terror victims, but more importantly, as an attack on Indian democracy and a vicious attempt to subvert the rule of law.”
The petitioners have urged the various stakeholders to come together in demanding that the BJP withdraws Thakur’s candidature from Bhopal in the upcoming elections.
It said that by fielding her, the BJP was making “yet another blatant attempt to intimidate Muslims and violate the rights and liberties of the minorities in India.”
