‘Those who drink alcohol, dance on…’: BJP MP Pragya Thakur attacks New Year celebrations

On the eve of the New Year, Pragya Singh Thakur, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, once more made a statement that sparked controversy. At a gathering in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, she said those who drink alcohol and dance on December 31 and whose day begins at afternoon the next day cannot experience novelty. Imitating the western civilisation cannot in our culture, she added.

“What novelty will they experience those who drink alcohol and dance on December 31 and their morning begins in the afternoon next day. We cannot have such western culture,” Pragya Thakur was quoted as saying in Hindi by news agency ANI.

Days after being detained for her alleged hate speech in Shivamogga, Karnataka, she made this remark. She suggested keeping weapons illegally while speaking about “love jihad” at the South Region annual convention of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike.

“Keep weapons in your homes, if nothing else, at least knives used to cut vegetables, sharp…Love jihad, they have a tradition of jihad, if nothing they do love jihad. Even if they love they do jihad in that. We (Hindus) too love, love the god, a sanyasi loves his god,” Thakur had added.

She was later charged for violating IPC sections 153A, 153B, 268, 295A, 298, 504 and 508 as a result of a complaint from a Congress politician.