Sadhvi Pragya, who was given a clean chit in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Monday began a hunger strike here, demanding that she be allowed to take part in Simhastha Kumbh at Ujjain, said one of her kin. A court in Dewas had allowed Pragya's petition that she be allowed to perform the Kumbh pilgrimage to Ujjain, but police have been preventing her visit citing security issues, her brother-in-law Bhagwan Jha told reporters here.
Pragya has been lodged in Bhopal Central Jail since March 2012. She is an accused in the December 2007 murder of former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) 'pracharak' Sunil Joshi in Dewas.
Pragya has currently been undergoing treatment for various health problems as an in-patient at Khushilal Government Ayurveda Institute here. "Sadhvi Pragya has stopped taking food and medicines. Unless she is allowed to go to Ujjain, she says she will give up her life," Jha said.
Her lawyer has written a letter to the Jail Superintendent and copied the same to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Justice of High Court, the Human Rights Commission and Women Commission.
He has pointed in the letter that when the trial court had accepted her application seeking permission to take a dip in the river then why was she not being allowed by the state government.
Sadhvi Pragya has in the letter through her lawyer said she is suffering from cancer, adding it is her last wish to visit the Kumbh as she may not be able to do so in the future.
Sadhvi Pragya's close aide Jha carried the letter to the Jail Superintendent, who assured him to raise this issue with senior officials.
She has in the letter issued an ultimatum to the government till May 21. Simhastha Kumbh started in Ujjain on April 22 and concludes on May 21.
Several people were killed during twin blasts in Malegaon on September 21, 2008. The NIA is investigating into the case. The Sadhvi was accused of hatching the conspiracy for the blasts. She was arrested in October 2008.