There’s an intriguing absence of outrage about the fact that an individual accused in a terror case is now the BJP’s Bhopal candidate. Pragya Thakur (‘Sadhvi’ to her followers) remains charged under UAPA, India’s main anti-terror law under which terrorism suspects are held. The announcement of her candidature was a media sensation — TV anchors rushed to record gushing interviews, channels are covering her campaign extensively. There’s little shock, no letter campaigns, almost no public protest by civil society groups. Either the middle class is by now numbed to extreme rightwing voices in politics, or silently endorses the advent of the Hindu Rashtra. The latter is more likely.
For the BJP to choose Thakur without waiting until she was cleared of Read More
