Telangana BJP MLA Raja Singh, who is infamous for his inflammatory speeches, has been booked for taking out a procession on Ram Navami despite being denied permission by the police. The Goshamahal MLA has a history of making anti-Muslim hate speeches, particularly during the Shobha Yatra processions on the occasion of Ram Navami. This year too, during the rally on April 17, Raja Singh said that he would continue to train Hindus to perform kar seva, a euphemism for demolishing mosques such as the Babri Masjid, while claiming they were built in the place of pre-existing Hindu temples.
While Raja Singh claimed that he was booked merely for organising the rally, a day before the procession on April 16, the MLA had shared a letter from the Hyderabad police denying permission for it. Raja Singh had announced to the public that he would still take out the Shobha Yatra, and “no one can stop it”.
The case was registered under sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 290 (punishment for public nuisance in cases not otherwise provided for), 171C (undue influence at elections), read with 34 (criminal act done by several persons) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and relevant sections of the Hyderabad City Police Act. Raja Singh was booked based on a complaint made by a police sub-inspector who was on bandobast duty on the day of Ram Navami festival on April 17.
During the procession, Raja Singh boasted that the Hindu community has already claimed the Ram Mandir by razing down the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. He challenged Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and said that they would reclaim Kashi, Mathura, and 40,000 other Hindu temples, which are at present religious sites of Muslims.
On December 6, 1992, kar sevaks (volunteers) from the Vishva Hindu Parishad demolished Babri Masjid, which was constructed by Mir Baqi, commander of Mughal emperor Babur, in 1528. This resulted in communal riots leading to over 2000 deaths. The Babri Masjid has been a contested site since 1885 as the birthplace of the Hindu deity Ram in Ayodhya. In 2019, the Supreme Court granted the entire 2.77 acres of disputed land to the deity Ram Lalla and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to allot five acres of land to Muslims for building a mosque.
Meanwhile, BJP Hyderabad Lok Sabha candidate Madhavi Latha, who also participated in the Ram Navami procession, was seen gesturing a bow-and-arrow attack on the mosque located in Begum Bazar. Madhavi Latha, who is the chairperson of Virinchi Hospitals, is contesting against Asaduddin Owaisi. The latter criticised the gesture, calling it “vulgar” and “provocative”. Madhavi Latha on the other hand claimed that the video was incomplete, but apologised for it nevertheless.
