Hyderabad: The City police on Thursday arrested the now suspended BJP MLA from Gosha Mahal T Raja Singh three days after multiple cases have been filed against him, especially for making remarks against Prophet Muhammad in a Youtube video leading to massive protests from Muslims across the city of Hyderabad.
Post the arrest, he was then taken to Gandhi Hospital for conducting a medical checkup.
Not afraid of bullets, hanging, or jail: Raja Singh
Just before his arrest, Raja Singh put out a video on Twitter saying that he is not afraid of ‘bullets, hanging, or jail and will keep fighting for the sake of ‘Dharma’.
Raja Singh case: Police file review petition in HC against Nampally court order
“Just got the information that now or in the evening I will be arrested by the police. The chief minister has ordered the police to jail me by any means, even by digging out all the old cases. They want me to be banished or be arrested by the PD act. I want to tell him that I am neither scared of bullets, hanging nor jail and I will keep fighting for the sake of Dharma. If somebody insults my God, I cannot accept it. Crores of Hindus will respond in the manner that they understand,” he said.
Protests intensify against Raja Singh, 127 arrested and released
On Wednesday night, the Hyderabad police severely cracked down on hundreds of protestors who demanded action against Raja Singh. The protests took place mainly in the Shalibanda area, where at least a few hundred people gathered. As it swelled, the cops barged into into homes and arrested some that way. On Thursday morning, 127 people who were in custody were released by the police.
Two days ago, D S Chauhan, additional commissioner (law and order) from the Hyderabad police, told a group of protestors that due to some technical mistakes the lower court rejected the remand report of the Mangalhat police and released Raja Singh. “A team is working under C V Anand, Hyderabad Commissioner to take the next step. I am assuring you all we will approach the higher court and take action,” he had told them.
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 made derogatory statements on Prophet Muhammad , 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.
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 the night of August 22 itself, 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 clarifying that the BJP does not support Singh’s remarks on Prophet Muhammad.
At the end of the video, after making derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad, 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).
