Hyderabad: Goshmahal MLA and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader T Raja Singh delivered a hate speech openly calling for violence against the minority communities in Maharashtra’s Solapur district recently.
On January 6, he participated in an event organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj where he encouraged a gathering of saffron-clad Hindutva supporters to choose violence as a medium to establish a Hindu Rashtra and tackle ‘love jihad’.
Calling on Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, he said, “We appeal to the CM to take strict action against ‘love jihad’ and cow slaughterers. If the state government fails, we will teach them a lesson. We will make sure to pluck these jihadis eyes and play with it.”
“Aaj ‘love jihad’ ke naam par kya hamare behen-bettiyon ka balathkaar nahi ho raha hai kya? Unko fasa kar baccha peda karne ki machine ban rahi hai (Is rape not happening to our sisters and daughters today in the name of Love Jihad? They are being trapped and then being made a machine for producing children),” he said.
‘Love jihad’ is a term coined by far right Hindutva supporters to describe that Hindu women are being lured by Muslim men using fake identity to converted them to Islam.
He also called upon the people to boycott Muslims and discouraged them from buying anything from Muslim traders. “If you are purchasing a soap or biscuit or atta (wheat flour), beware of its content. Do not buy if it is halal,” he said.
The BJP leader has been repeatedly delivering hate speeches across Telangana, Maharashtra and other states. Recently, during the Telangana Assembly election campaign, he warned of ‘violent consequences’ if he loses Goshamahal.
While submitting his nomination papers, Raja Singh admitted that he had 75 criminal cases against him. Most of them are related to hate speech booked in different parts of Telangana and other states. The number of cases against him in 2018 was 43 including 38 hate speech cases.
