Maharashtra: Hate Campaigns led by Raja Singh & Kalicharan continue to go unchecked

On April 9, 2023, just three days ago, near the Mata Mandir area in Maharashtra’s Nanded district, Hindutva extremist hardliner Abhijeet Dhananjay Saraag alias Kalicharan, a serial hate offender, addressed a crowd of hundreds of people and delivered a hate speech against Muslims. In the aforementioned speech, Kalicharan promoted conspiracy theories such as ‘Love Jihad’ and ‘Land Jihad,’ among others, while encouraging people to arm themselves against minorities.

T Raja Singh, on the other hand, expressed his inability to attend the rally and blamed the outrage on “secular politicians.” T Raja Singh, a suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, was scheduled to speak at the event but had to cancel his visit and sent a recorded a video for the gathering in which his speech peddled conspiracy theories against minorities and he even called for violence. He said India will become a Hindu nation by 2025-26, peppering the threat by using anti-Muslim slurs.  The recorded video message for the people of Biloli was played at the event.

According to the Quint, Inspector Narute has informed that the police are reviewing the event footage and that a FIR will be filed soon. “We are aware of the rally held in Biloli on April 9 and are in the process of filing a FIR,” he said, according to the Quint. On April 13, 2023, the Biloli police informed that an FIR has been filed against Kalicharan Maharaj under IPC sections 153 A, 295 A and 505 (2) for delivering the said hate speech against Muslims. No FIR has been filed against the hate speeches made by T. Raja Singh yet.

Snippets from speech made by Kalicharan Maharaj

“When police raid madrassas and mosques, they find RDX, guns. Let them raid your temples, they will find small trishuls of gold and silver which can’t even be used to but vegetables”

“100 percent of the riots around are caused by Muslims”

“The one who eats cows and the one who worships the cow cannot become brothers. What is this nonsense Hindu Muslim Bhai-bhai.”

“Remember Abdul loves his goat. Feeds him cashews, almond and on Eid, he slaughters it. Abdul loves you also. All Muslims are Hindu converts but then they are brainwashed at madrasas.”

“All Muslim here (in this country) are all converted from Hindusim.”

“For all Muslims, non-Muslims are kafir. Kafir means who does not believe in Allah and Quran. And it’s an order in Islam to kill Kafirs”

“5 lakh women were gang raped and were killed by machine gun. Girija Tickoo was gang raped and cut.”

“All terrorists are Muslims. Show me at least one Non-Muslim who is a terrorist. Have you seen pictures of terrorists on internet? In one hand there is Quran and the other hand AK-47”

“There is only one solution- to have a king like Yogi (Adityanath) in every state.”

“5 crores Rohingya have entered India.. Should they be thrown out? (Audience responds yes) Should CAA-NRC be implemented (yes) should there be a law against Love-jihad? Should Bharat become Hindu Rashtra” (exuberant response by the audience)

The video can be viewed here:

Location: Biloli, Nanded, Maharashtra

Far-right monk Kalicharan Maharaj delivers another hate speech making derogatory remarks against Muslims, calling them traitors, terrorists while advocating violence.

Kalicharan also said that Hindus and Muslims could never be friends. pic.twitter.com/EPck7wjLJJ

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) April 10, 2023

The recorded speech of Raja Singh:

“The day is not far when our India will become a Hindu nation, it will happen by 2025-26. Going forward, all of us need to take a pledge to make India a Hindu nation. My Hindu brothers, if we are successful in making India a Hindu nation, then there will be no cow slaughter, no Land jihad and no conversion.”

(Time stamp- 0:00 – 0:39)

“And just like a few days ago, a Mazhaar was destroyed near the sea, every other place that these traitors, these lande (anti-muslim slur) have captured our land, or have illegally encroached any area, all these will be destroyed, I promise you this.”

(Time stamp- 0:39 – 1:13)

“All of you should not be scared. To control land jihad, all you need to do is buy 100 bulldozers. And wherever there is land jihad or illegal encroachment, all you need to do is run the bulldozer over them I am requesting the Prime Minister to do the same.”

(Time stamp- 1:13 – 1:31)

“I want to tell you all that in your villages, religious conversions are taking place and you all need to stand up against it. Whoever is coming to conduct religious conversions on our Hindus, welcome such traitors with slippers and sandals. Beat them into running, whoever comes to convert Hindus daughters, sisters and families.”

(Time stamp- 1:31 – 2:04)

“Today, it is unfortunate, that in our Maharashtra, Land jihad is happening. A temple of our goddess is being snatched away in your village, are you aware about it? Will you let this happen, will you let them commit land jihad or stop them? You all have to stop them and protect our temples. Our India will become undivided Hindu nation, and no secular power or police can stop from letting that happen.”

(Time stamp- 2:04- 2:59)

The video can be viewed here:

Suspended BJP leader T Raja Singh, who was supposed to speak at the event but had to cancel his visit, recorded a video for locals peddling conspiracy theories against minorities with calls for violence. Using anti-Muslim slurs, he said India will become a Hindu nation by… pic.twitter.com/LEXppbN1MW

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) April 10, 2023

One arrest was made by the police- a concerned Muslim opposing this hate speech rally

While lawful action against hate offenders has been reluctant and sparse in Maharashtra, the Shambhajinagar (Aurangabad) police were quick to act against a Muslim protesting this hatred.Just before the aforementioned event was scheduled to take place, on April 5, a 50-year-old Muslim man named Suleman Ahmed Sheikh was arrested by the Biloli Police for allegedly “inciting” the youth from the Muslim community to oppose a rally where suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA T Raja Singh, known for giving communally charged speeches, was to be in attendance.

As has been provided by media reports, Suleman, a businessman and worker of the Congress party, along with one Azhar Qureshi, was named in the FIR and charged under sections 34 (criminal act done with common intention) and 505 (2) ((statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of the IPC. Suleman was then arrested based on the registration of FIR on the abovementioned sections.

Waliuddin Sheikh, a cousin of the arrested Suleman told the Quint that when it was learnt that Raja Singh, who has a history of making communally charged hate speeches and has been spewing venom against Muslims, is coming to Biloli, several concerned Muslims of the town got together on March 24, and decided to take the complaint to the administration — the police, the District Collector. The meeting was addressed by Suleman Sheikh. But, instead of taking any action, the police arrested one of them only. Suleman was arrested and later produced before court, and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. As per the report provided by the Quint, Suleman was granted bail on April 11.

Speech given by Suleman Sheikh

“T Raja Singh is scheduled to address a mass gathering in Biloli on 9 April near the Mata Mandir Parisar. We (people from the Muslim community, especially the youth) have gathered here to stop this rally from happening.”

“His speech will be so venomous that it has the potential to create tensions not just in Biloli but in the entire district of Nanded and the state of Maharashtra and in fact, in the entire country. This could cause riots. To stop this, five of us, workers of the Congress, are standing before you.”

“We will speak to our Santosh Kulkarni (local Congress leader), and on his letter head, we will submit an application to the SP office, the Collector’s office, the police station, the tehsildar’s office and will urge them to stop this rally.”

“If they, however, do not support us in this, we will not support them in anything in the future. We will not attend any meeting and do as we please. If the Congress party doesn’t do anything, we will quit the party also. To submit the memorandum tomorrow, our MLA Jitesh Antapurkar, Nagar Adhyakh Santosh Kulkarni will accompany us.”

(Based on transcript provided by the Quint.)

If a comparison is made of the speeches given by T. Raja Singh, Kalicharan Maharaj, and Suleman Ahmed Sheikh, there is no doubt as to who was attacking another religious community, promoting enmity and deserved to be arrested, and who was exercising their right to protest against these attempts to create disharmony in our country.

According to the police officials, Suleman Sheikh’s speech “created a sense of insecurity and fear”, and thus, he was arrested, while serial hate speakers like T. Raja Singh, who has multiple cases of hate speech have been registered him, is roaming free, making anti-Muslim and anti-women, provocative, derogatory and vile statements.

Singh, who had been granted conditional bail by Telangana High Court on November 9, 2022, has a list of FIR and cases filed against him. The suspended Goshamahal BJP MLA Raja Singh was arrested in August for allegedly making offensive remarks about Prophet Mohammed, was released by a division bench of the High Court, comprising of Justice Annireddy Abhishek Reddy and Justice Juvvadi Sridevi after having conditions imposed on the bail granted to him. As per conditional bail, he had been prohibited from making provocative comments, anti-minority speeches, or sharing offensive posts on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp, as well as in print or electronic media. The division bench had also prohibited the suspended BJP MLA from holding celebratory rallies or meetings upon his release, as well as from addressing the media. But today, 5 months after his release, in a blanatant contempt of court, Singh has been addressing huge crowds in the state of Maharashtra, and openly targeting the Muslim community.

Ongoing FIRs against T. Raja Singh since his bail:

It is pertinent to note, that the sections that have been invoked against Raja Singh are serious sections, provided as follows:

Section 295A- Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs

Section 153A- Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, and language

Section 153B- punishment against imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration

Section 504- intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace

Section 505- spreading of false and mischievous news intended to upset the public tranquility

Even when multiple FIRs of such nature are being filed against him, no arrest has been made, while Suleman was arrested within days of exercising his right in a democratic and secular country. It is further to be noted here, that on April 6, Singh was placed under preventive detention as he was about to attend the Shobha Yatra during the Hanuman Jayanti on Thursday afternoon. Keeping in mind the earlier cases that had been registered against Singh for making a provocative speech during Ram Navami Shobha Yatra, the police took him into custody with the Shobha Yatra for Hanuman Jayanti.

As reported by The Hindu, minutes before he was taken into custody, a video had been put out on social media where Singh warned that he should not be held responsible for any untoward incident in the city by the agitated devotees. “I am not responsible for any retaliation done by agitated devotees due to my arrest. The Chief Minister, Home Minister and the government should be held responsible. I will go and try to take part in the rally as I do every year and see who stops me,” he said in the video, as was reported by the Hindu.

It can therefore be deduced that even the authorities are aware that if Raja Singh had not be put under preventive detention before Hanuman Jayanti, he would have made inciting remarks against the Muslim Coumunity which would have led to riots, vandalism and more. Then why has there been no concrete step taken towards arresting Raja Singh?

Even in the past, we have witnessed the power of hate speech and the resulting genocide. In 1990, some mosques in Kashmir broadcast inflammatory speeches in order to incite hatred against Hindus, sparking an exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. The same year, BJP leader LK Advani had led a movement to build a temple in the northern town of Ayodhya, which resulted in Hindu mobs razing the centuries-old Babri mosque and sparking deadly communal riots. Even the Muslim pogrom of North East Delhi in the year 2020 had resulted from an anti-Muslim hate speech. Why is it that in a country where students, scholars, professors, journalists and activists are languishing in jail, with allegations of giving speeches that have resulted in riots and having sections of UAPA getting enforced against them, why are these serial hate speakers still free?

Although it is not surprising that state institutions, such as the police, are hesitant to perform their duties due to political pressure, this is a new low in which blatant disregard for the orders of the high courts and the Supreme Court of India is evident. Although there is no legal definition of hate speech in India, a number of provisions in various laws prohibit certain forms of speech, writing, and actions as exceptions to free speech. This includes criminalising acts that could foster “enmity between different groups on religious grounds” as well as “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs,” both of which, and more, have been used against Raja Singh. Despite this, he escapes the police net in Maharashtra and no concrete steps have been taken as a result of the FIRs.

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