Hyderabad: Suspended MLA Raja Singh is unlikely to get any support from within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Telangana. Party insiders said that the legislator has “crossed” a line with his remarks on Prophet Muhammad.
Moreover, some are also unhappy with him mainly for overshadowing BJP chief Bandi Sanjay’s arrest two days ago. The Karimnagar Lok Sabha MP was arrested at Jangaon after giving a protest call. Sanjay, gave the call after BJP workers were arrested for protesting outside TRS MLC Kavitha’s home on August 22.
Leaders from the BJP in Hyderabad Siasat.com spoke to Raja more or less expressed displeasure at what Raja Singh did. “On the day of his arrest, we were about to attack Kavitha and Bandi Sanjay was also arrested. What he did completely shifted focus of the media onto him. Even at press conferences they were asking about the him,” said a BJP leader.
More importantly, BJP leaders, who did not want to be named, said that Raja Singh “crossed a line”. They were referring to remarks on Prophet Muhammad made by suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma recently. Her statements led to an international embarrassment for India as many Muslim nations condemned it.
‘He is on his own like Nupur Sharma’
“Raja Singh is on his own. That was the message to Nupur Sharma also. After the incident with her, we were all asked to draw a line as it had international ramifications,” said a BJP leader. He added that most in the Telangana BJP were not aware that Raja Singh would post such a video.
“We would not have wanted the issues of Sanjay’s arrest and Kavitha being accused in the liquor scam to be diverted,” said another BJP leader from Hyderabad. As of now, no one from the party has come out openly in support of Raja Singh. He was suspended from the BJP immediately after being arrested by the central disciplinary committee.
More cases booked; unrest in Hyderabad
The BJP MLA on August 22 uploaded a video on YouTube in which he passed derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad. It soon resulted in protests around midnight the same day, which continued the next day as well. Raja Singh was booked initially by the police stations, and was subsequently arrested. However, he was released on bail on a technicality.
However, more cases have been registered against him. In total, eight cases have been booked against Singh at Mangalhat, Malakpet, Nampally, Dabeerpura, Chaderghat, Amberpet, Afzalgunj, and Rajendranagar police stations.
Raja Singh has been booked under sections like 153-A, 188, 295-A, 298, 505(1)(B)(C), 505(2), 506, 504, etc of the IPC. On Wednesday, the Hyderabad police also closed down all the petrol pumps and shut down shops by 8 pm in the old city. As protests against the suspended BJP MLA continued, the police did not want to take a chance with angry protestors. Over 40 people have been taken into custody so far since August 23.
Sequence of events
Raja Singh’s derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad were posted in a Youtube video on the night of August 22. It has been taken down since. Raja Singh posted it in retaliation to the Telangana government allowing comedia Munawar Faruqui perform in Hyderabad on August 20. He had threatened to disrupt the show, but was prevented from doing so by the police.
Raja Singh then took to Youtube, and posted his own video, which he called a “comedy”. Protests erupted the same day around midnight and continued on August 23 following which the BJP MLA was arrested. The situation got worse in the night when scores of protestors remained on the roads. The remained tense on Wednesday as well.
Four including cop injured in protests
Four people including a police sub-inspector were injured in skirmishes in protests held against the suspended BJP MLA. The protestors, demanding action against Raja Singh for his remarks on Prophet Muhammad, held several rallies all night. The largest one was held at Shalibanda. A handful of Muslim protestors were also reportedly thrashed when they tried to reach Goshamahal
Groups of Muslim youngsters continued to protest against Raja Singh throughout the intervening night of Wednesday in the Old City. At around 3 am, some of them tried to march towards Goshamahal, but the attempt was prevented by the police. Some of the protestors were also reportedly thrashed by locals from Goshamahal.
What Raja Singh said
The suspended BJP MLA passed several derogatory comments against Muslims and Prophet Muhammad in a Youtube video. He was essentially unwilling to let go of the fact that standup comic Munawar Faruqui was allowed to hold a show in the city last week.
Protests began on Monday night, with angry youth demanding his arrest outside city police commissioner CV Anand’s office. It continued on Tuesday and intensified after he was released on bail. BJP chief spokesperson for Telangana Krishna Saagar Rao told Siasat.com that his party respects all religions and faiths. “We are a national party and we don’t support the statements of Raja Singh or hate speech,” he stated.
At the end of the video, after making derogatory comments, Raja Singh said that whatever he uttered was “comedy”. The MLA said he also didn’t like what he said. The video was uploaded on Shree Ram Channel Telangana (now made private).
