Will Not Support Pragya, Unless She Apologises: BJP Muslim Leader

Fatima Rasool Siddique said, some of Pragya Thakur’s statements were “communal and obnoxious.”

BJP Muslim leader Fatima Rasool Siddique said she will not campaign for the party’s candidate for Bhopal Lok Sabha seat Pragya Singh Thakur, unless she apologises for remarks that allegedly hurt religious sentiments, reported PTI.

Siddique, who contested the Assembly polls from the Bhopal North seat in November last year, said some of Thakur’s statements were “communal and obnoxious,” on Thursday, 25 April.

“I won’t campaign for her as she has made statements like waging a ‘dharm yudh’ (crusade). Her controversial statement against former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief Hemant Karkare, a martyr who laid down his life fighting terrorists in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, has also hurt me badly.”

Fatima Rasool Siddique

“Pragya's statements about dharm yudh and against Karkare have not gone down well in my community also," she said.

Pragya Singh Thakur, who is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, is currently under investigation on charges relating to Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and is out on bail.

‘Pragya’s Remarks Have Tarnished Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Image’

Further, Siddique said, the 49-year-old right-wing activist’s remarks have also tarnished the image of BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

“Her statements have damaged the image of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has good connect with Muslims,” said the daughter of Rasool Ahmed Siddique, a Congress leader and former Cabinet minister in the state.

Chouhan is a strong votary of ‘Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb’ (secular culture), she said.

“My community members have immense respect for him,” the BJP leader said.

Party spokesperson Ravi Saxena also condemned Pragya’s remarks and said that her candidature has hurt people in every section of the society.

Saxena lauded Siddique's decision to abstain from campaigning, calling it a “very good decision,” according to NDTV.

Siddique, who is a dentistry student, joined the BJP on 8 November last year and hours later, was nominated the party's candidate from the Bhopal North Assembly constituency.

Though a fairly good number of Muslim women campaigned for Siddique, she lost by 34,857 votes to Congress candidate Arif Aqueel.

When asked whether she was going to join her father’s party Congress, Siddique replied in the negative, according to PTI.

Pragya is pitted against Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh in the Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP has been winning since 1989.

(With inputs from PTI and NDTV.)