New Delhi: Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA T. Raja Singh was arrested again on Thursday, August 25, two days after he was arrested and released on bail for making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
Hours before his arrest, Singh had released another video alleging a “communal atmosphere” in Telangana, targeting chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), his son and state cabinet minister K.T. Rama Rao (KTR), AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and other leaders. By posting another video online, Singh violated the bail conditions imposed by the court; a fact that he acknowledged in the August 25 video.
However, hours before his arrest, Telangana police had issued Singh notice under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) on a number of old cases, according to a report by the Hindustan Times. As such, it is as yet unclear on what charges he has been arrested.
Section 41A stipulated that the police must issue notice to an individual before arresting them in cases where the offence they are accused of draws a punishment of imprisonment of less than seven years. The failure of the Telangana police to issue Singh notice under this Section before his first arrest was accepted by the local court as an argument in favour of his grant of bail.
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The August 25 video
In the new video, Singh took aim at the AIMIM chief Owaisi, alleging that Telangana police are “puppets” in his hands, according to a report by NDTV. Singh was ostensibly referring to the fact that Owaisi had been working to secure the release of a number of people detained by the police for protesting Singh’s earlier remarks.
Singh then trained his sights on KCR and KTR as well, accusing them of engaging in “Muslim vote-bank” politics and holding them responsible for the communal tensions in Hyderabad.
Also read: Hyderabad Prophet Remarks: Protests Continue Seeking Action Against BJP MLA T. Raja Singh
In the recent video, Singh once again launched a tirade against Muslim comedian Manuwar Faruqui, as he had done in the first video. He alleged that after he managed to have one of the comedian’s shows in the city cancelled earlier this year, chief minister KCR had provided Faruqui with the support of “5,000 cops” so he could successfully “make jokes about our gods”.
Here, Singh was referring to an August 20 show that Faruqui performed at in the city, which Singh had unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt.
Acknowledging that he was violating his bail conditions by uploading another video, Singh, addressing the audience, said that he was “taking a risk” by posting on social media.
“The court has told me not to address the media. But the situation compelled me to do this today,” NDTV quoted him as saying, adding that he is prepared to fight the ensuing legal battle.
Following his arrest, the BJP suspended Singh and issued a statement saying that he had expressed views that went against the party’s position on a number of matters.
“I will explain to my party that I wasn’t targeting a religion; I was targeting individuals,” he said in the video.
Protests following the first video
In the first video, for which Singh was arrested on Tuesday, he reportedly repeated the comments on the Prophet made by suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma in May this year, triggering widespread backlash and protests across Hyderabad.
Police in Hyderabad’s Shalibanda trying to wrangle crowds protesting against Singh’s remarks on Wednesday, August 24. Photo: PTI.
On Wednesday, as protests continued, seeking Singh’s arrest, Hyderabad police stepped up security to keep the crowds in check. They reportedly employed lathi charges to subdue crowds and schools were closed in certain parts of the city, such as the Shalibanda and Old City areas, and shops remained closed in others.
In the first video, too, Singh had targeted Faruqui, accusing him of ridiculing Hindu gods.
“This is the first video where I have spoken like this. What is the reason? Because one person hurled abuses at my Lord Ram and Sita Mata. He did comedy on my gods and today, without any other option left, I am doing comedy on your mother. This is my anguish,” he had said. The video has since been taken down.