Telangana police registered an FIR against Tiger Raja Naval Singh Lodh (BJP MLA) from Goshamahal on Tuesday, August 23. The MLA is alleged of passing blasphemous remarks against the Prophet Muhammad. leading to which various protests being carried out in Hyderabad on Aug 21 at night.
The protest broke out at South Zone and protesters demanded action against Singh. Several chants of “Sar Tan se Juda” echoed during the protests. It was an Islamist chant calling for his beheading for ‘blasphemy’ against Prophet Muhammad.
Singh is purportedly famous for igniting controversies each time he speaks. According to reports Singh is alleged to hurt the sentiments of people by abusing the prophet Muhammad in a ‘comic’ video that he shared on social media platforms on Monday (August 21, 2022). He further stated that comedians had cracked jokes on Hindu gods and should not be permitted to perform in Hyderabad.
The video was however taken down from youtube.”They removed my video from YouTube. I don’t know what the police are going to do. Once I am released, the second part (of the video) will certainly be uploaded. I am doing it for Dharma. I am ready to die for Dharma,” he said.
The protestors wanted Singh’s immediate arrest and calls for beheading him were made.
First Protests and then Arrests?
Many All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislators and corporators of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation reached the police stations. They all wanted stringent action against T Raja Singh.
Resulting the Police booked the BJP MLA under IPC section 153A (Promoting enmity between two groups) and similar sections at the Dabeerpura police station.
P Sai Chaitanya (DCP south zone) has confirmed that investigations have begun. “We have registered a case at Dabeerpura police station and necessary action will be taken in this regard. I appeal to the public to maintain restraint since police shall act swiftly”, he was quoted.
Singh also shooted unacceptable remarks and threatened to attack the comedian Munawar Faruqui. He said that he would burn down the venue if the Telangana Government doesn’t turn down the show.
The police took the BJP MLA and 4 others into custody but later released them. Prior to this, police detained 50 people including members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha for protesting at the venue of a show by alleged stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui. The comedian was expected to perform his show named ‘Dongri to Nowhere’ in Hyderabad on August 20.
On January 1, 2021, Faruqui did a show during which he insulted Lord Ram and Sita. A case was registered against him by the Madhya Pradesh police under sections 295A, 298, 269, 188, and 34th of the Indian Penal Code.
Singh was suspended hours after his arrest. The party has issued a show cause notice for 10 days against him. He was asked to explain why he should not be expelled.
BJP MLA gets bail
But later the 14 Assistant Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court returned his remand application and ordered him to be released.
“The court ordered his release after it noted that Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), as understood in the case of Arnesh Kumar v State of Bihar, was not followed during the arrest”, reported LiveLaw.
Counting this one, Singh has more than 75 cases booked against him, the majority being hate and provocative speeches, and disruption of law and order.
In June 2022, Sigh allegedly offended the 12th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti of Ajmer of Rajasthan. Singh claimed that if Hindus who visit the dargah knew the truth behind it, they would stop visiting or won’t bow their heads.
He claimed that Hindus who visit have never heard of the truth. They would never bow their head down if they knew that Prithviraj Chouhan’s wife was thrown out of this dargah to be raped by the soldiers.
Amidst the procession to celebrate Ram Navami (on April 9), Singh used abusive language and put forward a demand of boycotting Muslim traders. Calling Muslims “gaddars” (traitors), Singh asked people to boycott those who refuse to sing ‘Vande Mataram’.
