Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA T Raja Singh on Thursday, 30 March, made yet another alleged 'hate speech' at Hyderabad's Mangalghat during a Ram Navami rally, which was rife with anti-Muslim rhetoric and calls for an 'Akhand Hindu Rashtra'.
The rally, jointly organised by Sri Ram Navami Utsav Committee and Sri Ram Yuva Sena, also saw portraits of Nathuram Godse, MK Gandhi's assassin, being waved by participants.
The Goshamahal MLA's appearance at the Ram Navami rally came on the same day that he was booked by Maharashtra's Dadar Police under Section 153A(I)(a) (promoting enmity between two groups) for allegedly delivering a hate speech at a Sakal Hindu Samaj rally in Mumbai on 29 January.
Godse's photo being waved at the Ram Navami rally in Hyderabad.
(Photo: Screengrab)
What Happened at Ram Navami Rally?
During Thursday's rally, amid the cheers of hundreds of supporters, Singh said that "in our Hindu Rashtra, only those people who say 'hum do, hamare do' will be given the right to vote," implying that minorities would be denied even basic rights.
He added that once the "Hindu Rashtra is formed, there won't be any deaths of cows, and jihaadis will be removed from India."
"Our elders worked hard and made the Ram temple a reality. It will soon be inaugurated. Our focus now has to be on Kashi and Mathura temples, for which we need to fight. Hindus should not be afraid of anyone. One Hindu can fight 10,000 people. There is nothing to fear, and we have to build a Hindu Rashtra," he further said.
He also urged his supporters to take an oath to pledge their lives to the cause of Hindutva. "I pledge in the name of Lord Ram that I will turn my India into an akhand Hindu Rashtra. I will not sit idle. I will protect our culture and our saints," he said, as the crowd repeated after him.
Raja Singh was arrested by the Telangana Police and suspended from the BJP in August 2022 for his alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
Though he was released on bail immediately after his arrest on August 25, the Telangana government invoked the Preventive Detention Act against him, and he was lodged in the Cherlapally central prison.
In November 2022, the Telangana High Court ordered his release but "on conditions that he would not take out a victory rally on his release, address the media or post any derogatory or inflammatory speech on social media."
Repeat Offender
Raja Singh has been named in over 50 First Information Reports (FIRs), many of which pertain to instances of hate speech.
In fact, cases were registered in two police stations against the leader for making 'provocative speeches' at last year's Ram Navami procession in Hyderabad.
He was then accused of "giving a speech and singing songs which are provocative in nature, and to create hatred and enmity between different religious communities," according to the Hyderabad Police.
At the Sakal Hindu Samaj rally in Mumbai too, for which he was booked on Thursday, Singh had said: "I just want to tell you all, and to all those traitors too, that this conspiracy of love jihad should be stopped now. Or else, we Hindus are 100 crore in number, if we do our Jihad, you won't even find girls to marry."
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