Since Monday (August 22), Muslim-populated areas of Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana have experienced intense tension. Visuals when Muslim crowds get offended.”Sar Tan Se JudahThere were slogans and demands for the beheading and arrest of Goshamahal MLA T. Raja Singh.
The Telangana state government is on alert for Muslim Friday prayer meetings.
On Monday, BJP MLA T. Raja Singh released a video criticizing stand-up comedian Munawar Farooqi for making fun of Hindu gods and goddesses in the past. (Farooqi was recently in Hyderabad for a show under tight state government security).
Raja Singh is accused of making “blasphemous” comments against Islam in the same video.
Several people belonging to the Muslim community have been protesting in various parts of Hyderabad since Monday evening, demanding that Singh be hanged or beheaded.
Many legislators from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Corporation reached the police stations where the protests were taking place and demanded strict action against Raja Singh.
AIMIM, which is regime-friendly TRS, has filed an expulsion case with the Speaker’s Office for T. Raja Singh.
The head of the party, Asaduddin Owaisi, also participated in the release of Muslim youths detained for chanting slogans about Singh’s beheading.
T. Raja Singh Profile
Thakur Raja Singh Lodh was born on 15 April 1978 in Dhulpet, Hyderabad. Coming from an economically backward family, T. Raja Singh did not finish school, but from the early days he was associated with local Hindu organizations.
He was associated with the RSS and Bajrang Dal before taking the political plunge by winning as a shareholder in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation from the Telugu Desam N Chandrababu Naidu Party (TDP).
Even in the TDP, he actively participated and encouraged Hindu activity in Hyderabad. In fact, some Hindu monks crowned Raja Singh as Hindu Khrudaya Samrat in January 2013, when the controversial leader had not yet joined the BJP.
T. Raja Singh joined the BJP in July 2013 and ran for the Ghoshamahal constituency in the 2014 Telangana Assembly elections. He was among the five MLA BJPs in the first Telangana legislature.
With his accessibility to his constituents and uncompromising Hindutva stance, Raja Singh emerged as the favorite in his constituency and the only BJP MLA in the 2018 assembly elections.
T. Raja Singh’s impact on his constituency can be gauged by the fact that he won this segment despite a wave of TRS supporters in 2018 when BJP lost deposits in over 100 assembly segments among 119 constituencies in Telangana.
Raja Singh created an image for himself through his activism on the ground, especially against cow smuggling in Hyderabad.
He also organized mass readings Hanuman Chalisa and built a massive 51 foot Hanuman murti on a hill in the Muslim-dominated old city of Hyderabad.
Also, the support that Raja Singh received among the youth of Hyderabad can be seen in his massive rallies during Hanuman Jayanti and Shri Rama Navmi.
Raja Singh has also used social media to his advantage with a popular YouTube channel and an army of volunteers supporting it. His Youtube channel “Shree Ram Channel Telangana” has 3.7 million subscribers.
Remarks he made after his release from his latest arrest, saying that more than a party (BJP) defending Dharma is crucial to him, sums up the political image that Raja Singh has built over the past decade.