Since Tuesday, the hashtag of T. Raja Singh has been trending on social media and now almost everyone is aware of what the BJP leader did.
Raja Singh is a BJP MLA who amde derogatory comments on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). For that, he was immediately arrested and charged with promoting enmity in the name of religion.
However, he was later released becoming the national heroin in India but on the other hand raising concerns as well that how religious intolerance is increasing in India.
Who is T. Raja Singh?
Raja Singh began his political career with the Telugu Desam Party and later joined the BJP. He is now the saffron party’s whip in Telangana and represents the Goshamal constituency in the state assembly.
Blasphemous remarks
In a video, Singh made the remarks while attacking stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who recently performed in the city. Raja Singh can be heard speaking about stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui and his comedy shows in the over 10-minute video shared via Shree Ram Channel Telangana late Monday. Singh is heard repeating the comments made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma that sparked an international row.
Protests
Several Muslim organizations held protests outside a number of police stations in the city demanding the arrest of the two-time MLA, who said he had posted the video in response to Munawar Faruqui’s show held in Hyderabad Sunday.
Arrest and FIR
Singh was suspended by the BJP hours after he was arrested. The party also issued him a show cause notice for 10 days, asking him to explain why he should not be expelled.
he was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 505 (2) (making, publishing or circulating any statement or report containing rumour or alarming news with intent to create or promote feelings of enmity and hatred) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Release
The court ordered his release and granted bail within hours of arrest after a court returned his remand and ordered his release.
The court ordered his release after it noted that section 41 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not followed during the arrest.
Controversial figure
It is not the first time the politician has landed himself in trouble, he was labelled as a “dangerous individual” by Facebook in September 2020. He was also banned from social platforms of Facebook for hate speech in the same year.
The action came after the BJP MLA made posts on the social media network in which he said Rohingya Muslim refugees should be shot, called Muslims traitors, and threatened to raze mosques.
Singh’s controversial comments come barely months after former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma triggered a massive diplomatic backlash with her remarks on the Prophet (PBUH). Nupur Sharma was suspended by the BJP and as many as 10 cases were filed against her across the country.
Even last week, Raja Singh had threatened to stop Munawar Faruqui’s show in Hyderabad and said he would burn down the set at the venue. He was placed under house arrest for the threat.
