Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) leader Pooja Shakun Pandey was seen distributing knives among students of class 10 to 12 on the birth anniversary of Mahasabha leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on Tuesday.
According to reports, Pandey along with several members of the Hindu Mahasabha distributed the fatal weapons as a gift to the students who had topped in their examinations to commemorate Savarkar, who formulated the Hindutva philosophy.
Pandey told the media that she had also distributed the knives, along with a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, to the minor children, who have also achieved good results in their examinations. She said that this was done to motivate and empower the Hindus, especially the younger generation as she wanted the students to know when and why the weapon should be used.
She said that the weapons are given so that they will feel strong and independent and will be able to defend their family and sisters. And since there is a rising number of crimes against women they should also be able to take care of themselves by training to use the knives for self-defence.
ABHM spokesperson and Pooja Shakun Pandey's husband Ashok Pandey said that Savarkar's dream was "Rajniti ka Hindukaran aur Hinduon ka sanikikaran" (Hinduisation of politics and militarisation of Hindus).
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled the first part of Savarkar's dream by winning the 2019 Lok Sabha elections undisputed. We are now fulfilling the next part of the dream by distributing weapons and creating Hindu soldiers. "If Hindus want to protect themselves and their nation, they should learn how to use weapons," he added.
Pooja Shakun Pandey has always been a controversial subject with her anti-nationalistic behaviour and other elements. On January 30, when India celebrated the 71st birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, a video had gone viral, which showed Pandey enacting the assassination of the father of the nation by shooting an effigy of Gandhi with an air pistol and garlanding his assassin Nathuram Godse.
