Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Goshamahal constituency Raja Singh was suspended from the party for violating party rules after he released a video in which he passed derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad.
The central disciplinary committee of the BJP released the MLA’s suspension letter, in which it was stated that he violated rule XXV 10 (a) of the party’s constitution. He was also asked to show cause within 10 days as to why should he not be expelled from the party.
On Tuesday morning, the MLA was arrested and taken to the Bolarum police station on Tuesday after being booked under Sections 295(a), 153(a), 505 (1) (b) and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code.
Raja Singh on Tuesday morning released a video on YouTube in which he spoke about Prophet Muhammad. The BJP MLA called it “comedy”, and also abused comedian Munawar Faruqui and his mother two days after the comedian’s show was held in Hyderabad. The Telangana unit of the BJP has also disassociated itself from his statements.
For every action, there is a reaction: Raja Singh before arrest
His comments lead to scores of people protesting on the streets demanding his arrest. Following his video, the BJP MLA was booked by the Dabeerpura police for his remarks. Many people were also taken into custody by the police on Tuesday after protests broke out.
A huge number of cops have also been deployed outside the offices of the Hyderabad police commissioner, the Director General of Police office at Lakdikapul, and the old police commissioner office at Purani Haveli and other important places in the city after protests erupted against BJP MLA Raja Singh for his remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
“….I thought to myself, He ( referring to comedian Munawar Faruqui) is abusing Lord Ram and Sita so I should research this almighty of his and people who wear round caps (Muslims). The moment I did it, I found something very shocking in the video. In that, it says that the man married a six-year-old (referring to the Prophet Muhammad),” said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raja Singh in the 10 minute-27-second video.
At the end of the video, after making derogatory comments, Raja Singh said that whatever he uttered was “comedy” and that he himself didn’t like what he said. The video was uploaded on Shree Ram Channel Telangana (now made private). Singh in fact repeated some of the things that now suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma said on TV recently, which became an international row after Muslim countries condemned it.
