Pragya hails Modi, talks of divine retribution for torture in custody

UJJAIN: Six days after a NIA clean chit in the Malegaon blasts case and 48 hours after a death fast threat from prison, the imprisoned sadhvi, Pragya Singh Thakur, made a dramatic appearance in the Ujjain mahakumbh, escorted by six police pilot cars and 250 policemen in a cavalcade from Bhopal central jail.
In her court-directed 24-hour freedom after eight years of incarceration, Pragya launched a blistering attack on Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an honest leader and true nationalist.
"The Dewas court had to twice issue orders to the Shivraj government to allow me to visit Ujjain for a snan. I will go to the human rights commission against the MP government," she told reporters. The state government had cited intelligence inputs about security threat to Pragya's life if taken to the kumbh, but buckled under court orders and after the sadhvi launched a fast-unto-death if stopped from visiting her guru and taking a dip. "From the Rudra Sagar camp, we will whisk her to the hospital, which has been converted into an impregnable fort for security reasons," said a senior police officer.
But behind the cheer and saffron camaraderie, was the underlying gloom of a silent cold-shoulder from the politically-correct Juna Akhara. She had specifically sought court permission for a visit to her spiritual guru. Though the court directive allowed her a visit to her guru's camp, a close aide of the sadhvi admitted that "Pragya may have to skip a meeting with her spiritual guru."
On Wednesday, what was scheduled to be a tryst with Simhastha at dawn turned out to be a late-evening extravaganza after Pragya's cavalcade drove to the VHP camp at Rudra Sagar to meet her friends, relatives and talk to the media. And the much-hyped holy dip in the Kshipra on Wednesday did not happen. "She will do 'achman' only, not bathe. This is a ritual performed at ghats. Then she will visit the Mahakal temple," said a family member.
Buoyed by the NIA clean chit, she rubbished the Hindutva terror tag which infamously came to be associated with her. "A nationalist cannot be a terrorist," she said. But while referring to torture during interrogation, she said, "Truth will prevail." Without naming former Mumbai ATS boss Hemant Karkare, she said, "Retribution comes from heaven. One of those who put me through the worst torment is dead." And in a direct attack on the Congress government, she said, "AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh, who framed me, is also politically dead. They are all afraid of me." To a query if the Modi government played a crucial role by using the NIA to water down charges against her, she said, "Don't talk like Congressmen. Be patriots. I have come to Ujjain for spiritual solace in the Kumbh. I will follow court orders to the last detail."
Pragya Singh Thakur has become a virtual vegetable, she cannot walk and has to be lifted by at least three aides. "This is because of a spinal injury she suffered while undergoing third-degree torture in custody," said her close aide. The fiery sadhvi scotched talk of a political career after the clean chit. "I hate dirty politics. A sanyasin can never embark on that journey," she said.