Hate Speech: T Raja Singh attempts to incite hate in Rajasthan

Former Telangana legislator and suspended BJP member T Raja Singh strikes once again and is gaining notoriety for delivering hate-filled speeches which target the Muslim community all the way in Rajasthan. While suspended from the BJP, he enjoys the position of MLA of the Ghoshamahal constituency in Hyderabad, in spite of which the MLA travels to states like Maharashtra, UP and Rajasthan to deliver hate speeches.

On October 1, 2023, in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, Singh took to the podium and delivered an hateful speech saying, “Mullahs, you had the vehem (belief) that Ram Temple won’t be built in Ayodhya, you had the vehem that Article 370 won’t be brought down, and today, but did that not happen? Now they still hold the belief that India will never be a Hindu Rashtra. But India will become a Hindu Rashtra in 2026! When this happens, the capital will not be Delhi, but instead it will be Mathura or Ayodhya!” to loud cheers from the audience.

He went on further using derogatory slurs against Muslims, openly calling for the militarisation of the Hindu community and seemingly attempted to incite violence by proclaiming, “If they take one Hindu girl, we’ll take 10 of theirs.”

Just a day later, on October 2, 2023, which was the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi nonetheless, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, Singh once again spouted communal sentiment in his speech. Despite being in the presence of police, he unabashedly continued his anti-Muslim tirade, using hateful slurs, and making derogatory remarks against Muslim women. This time, the rally even had the support of BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena. It may be of use to note that Rajasthan is set to see elections later this year.

With a banner saying Dharma Sabha behind him, Singh took to the podium flanked by police on each side, and stated “Every Hindu veer will have to become a Sainik and strengthen himself! Not to hit someone, but if somebody comes, he should not return from you alive. We know how to punish traitors, how to make them bend/bow their heads. Come, sometime to Hyderabad and see. Recently, there is a party named the Muslim League which carried out a rally where it said all Hindus who attend temples will be hanged, and the rest be made to read ‘their green book.’ They promised to make Bharat an Islamic Rashtra. Who are you to make Bharat so? We will make Bharat an akhand Hindu Rastra and nobody will be able to stop that!”

T Raja Singh’s hateful rhetoric has been a recurring theme in his political career and he has consistently stoked communal tensions and targeted the Muslim community, from Hyderabad, to Maharashtra to Rajasthan. Singh’s inflammatory speeches have certainly not gone unnoticed by the law, for instance he was arrested in August 2022 last year  for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prophet Muhammad which had led to massive protests in Hyderabad. He was previously also suspended by the BJP after his remarks on the Prophet  sparked controversy in 2022. Authorities have even invoked the Preventive Detention Act against him earlier last year after having cited his involvement in numerous criminal cases and he has been detained for 76 days in one case. However, the Telangana High Court had granted him conditional bail and quashed charges under the Preventive Detention Act. The court however imposed strict conditions which prohibited him from giving interviews, and most importantly, making hate speeches, or holding celebratory rallies upon his release. Yet,  none of these legal and punitive actions seem to have played a major role in deterring the legislator, who continues to make divisive speeches with impunity. Furthermore, it seems that his fellow politicians too enjoy the impunity he has and thereby, as seen in the case of Rajasthan, have him over to polarise sentiments (presumably in their favour) prior to the upcoming state assembly elections in the state.

That T Raja Singh acts with impunity can be seen from numerous instances in the past too. According to a report by CJP, Singh explicitly urged his followers on Facebook not to purchase anything from “terrorist Kashmiris” during the annual Amarnath Yatra in 2018. CJP raised this issue with Facebook. However, by July 2019, the video had gathered over 300,000 views. Singh faced FIRs for promoting enmity between groups, yet Facebook continued to host his account which remained filled with vitriolic content against minorities. Furthermore, in the same year, CJP discovered that despite the apparent removal of his page, his official page remained active.

The report by CJP further notes how Raja Singh was also featured in an article by Wall Street Journal which was about  how Facebook turned a blind eye to hate speech by BJP leaders in order to keep its business interests safe in India. However, it was only in March 2021 that Facebook, after much dilly-dallying, finally acknowledged that Singh had violated its community standards and he was finally removed from the platform. However, the CJP report further notes how the offender’s hate-filled rhetoric continued to spread through so-called several of his fan pages like the Tiger Raja Singh Fan Club and T Raja Singh Samarthak Jalgaon PRK Group with thousands of followers.

In May 2023, CJP earlier had filed a complaint against  Singh with the State Election Commission of Karnataka and highlighted that his speeches not only violate the Model Code of Conduct but also are applicable offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The speeches given this year followed his usual pattern and were communal on several accounts and were also anti-Muslim in nature. One of these had been spoken in a rally supporting BJP candidate Eshwar Singh Thakur in the Karnataka Assembly elections. Here is an excerpt from the speech in question:

“If the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, they will give full autonomy and freedom to the PFI. If the PFI comes back to Karnataka, then understand this, the Hindus will not remain safe, no one will remain safe. Our mother cow will be openly slaughtered then, they will commit Love-Jihad and Land-jihad, if the PFI comes back after the Congress wins. Understand this, if all this happens, whoever works for the Hindutva cause or calls themselves a Hindu, there will be a great risk for them.” CJP had sought strict action against him, and including barring him from from making any more hate speech during the phase of assembly elections. But no action was taken against him.

Singh has over over 100 criminal cases filed against him, according to Sabrang India. This year alone, he’s been hit with over 7 FIRs for delivering hate speeches. He has been witnessed making anti-Muslim speeches all year and despite these legal interventions, this is not the first time T Raja Singh has faced such charges.

In January 2023, for instance,  the Mangalhat police station in Hyderabad issued a notice to Raja Singh, who serves as the Goshamahal MLA. The notice pertained to a provocative speech he delivered at Ajmer Dargah in 2022. The complaint was filed by Syed Mahmood Ali and is registered at the Kanchanbagh police station under Section 295-A of the IPC.

The Mangalhat police too station had issued directives to Raja Singh to not to commit any offenses in the future, tamper with any evidence related to the ongoing case, or threaten, induce, or coerce individuals familiar with the case’s facts. They had also issued him a show cause notice for violating court set norms which set the conditions for his bail.

It is to be of note that Singh has been consistently visiting Rajasthan over the last one and a half years. As witnessed above where a sitting MP, Kirodi Lal Meena, is with him, this could only be possible if organisers of such events in Rajasthan have been inviting him to deliver the speeches which he has become so well known for today. This really points observers to the possibility that right-wing politicians are using such theatrics and hate speech to polarise sentiments before the elections, and it is part of an organised effort by the Right to incite violence,  polarise sentiment and continue to keep a grab on power and keep law and order ineffective when it comes to communal politicians.

Related:

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Hate Watch: BJP MLA Raja Singh served a notice for hate speech at Ajmer Dargah in Hyderabad

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