‘Shudras Feel Bad When Called Shudras’, Says BJP’s Pragya Thakur
Thakur also said that reservation should be on the basis of economic background to benefit the poor
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Malegaon blast accused and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Madhya Pradesh MP Pragya Thakur on Saturday, 12 December, stirred controversy over a casteist remark on "Shudras".
Thakur, while addressing a gathering at Kshatriya Sammelan in the state’s Sehore district, said that “Shudras feel bad when they are called shudras, because of ignorance, because they don’t want to understand”.
The MP said that society has been divided into four categories in “our dharmashastra”.
“Kshatriya ko kshatriya keh do, bura nahi lagta. Brahmin ko brahmin keh do, bura nahi laga. Vaishya ko vaishya keh do, bura nahi lagta. Shudra ko shudra keh do, bura lag jata hai. Kaaran kya hai? Kyunki nah-samjhi hai, kyunki samajh nahi paate,” Thakur was heard saying in a video.
(Translation: If you call a Kshatriya a kshatriya, they don’t feel bad; call a Brahmin a brahmin, they don’t feel bad; call a Vaishya a vaishya, they don’t feel bad. But if you call a Shudra a shudra, they feel bad. Why is this so? Because of ‘ignorance’, they don't understand.”)
Thakur also said that reservation should be on the basis of economic background to benefit the poor, and not on “caste lines,” reported The Indian Express.
“Today’s Kshatriya needs to understand their duties and produce more and more children to induct them into the Armed Forces, so that they can fight for the nation and strengthen its security,” The Indian Express quoted Thakur as saying.
Pragya Thakur also lashed out at Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the alleged attack on the BJP Chief Jagat Prakash Nadda's convoy in West Bengal.
She said that the BJP will win in the next Assembly elections, and there will be "Hindu Raj" in West Bengal.
(With inputs from ANI, Indian Express, India Today)
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