Sadhvi Pragya Says "Sharpen Knives" Remark Was Reminder For Women's Safety

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sadhvi Pragya on Wednesday took on the former bureaucrats who wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressing discontent over her alleged hate speech, and said that she had only reminded people about their rights for women safety and that she would stand for the respect of women.

Her remarks came after 103 former bureaucrats demanded action from the Lok Sabha Speaker against Pragya.

Addressing Hindu Jagarana Vedike's South Region annual convention in Karnataka's Shivamogga in December last year, Pragya Thakur had said that a knife used for chopping vegetables can also cut the "heads of the enemies".

"Keep your daughters safe and protected. Keep weapons at home. Sharpen the knife used to cut vegetables. If our vegetables are cut well, heads and mouths of our enemies will also be cut well," she had said while addressing a gathering in Shivamogga, Karnataka.

Addressing the media here, the BJP MP said, "The public knows what is good.. what is right, what is legal, what is illegal, people of all ideologies live in the country and if I remind them of their rights for the safety of women and girls, then there is no need for them to be troubled."

"They will be happy if my (MP) membership is gone, they will be happy I don't care at all. Those who are opposing me, I have always stood for the self-respect of our self-respecting women, and for the respect of women, I will stand in future. I don't care about such people at all," she added.

Earlier, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar took a swipe at Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur over her "sharpen the knives" in "self-defence" statement saying "virtuous people never speak about violence" and "use hate speech".

Kumar while addressing a gathering on the occasion of Congress' 138th Foundation Day in Mumbai said, "People who are actually virtuous never speak about violence. They never use hate language instead they speak only to unite people not to divide them. But Sadhvi Pragya is completely doing the opposite, she is asking people to keep 'sharpened knives' at home. Which type of sadhvi is she, I don't understand."

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