Telangana Police on Tuesday arrested controversial BJP MLA T Raja Singh for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad.
A case was registered against the BJP MLA following massive protests that erupted on Monday night in Hyderabad demanding action against him for talking about the Prophet in a video.
The protest took place in front of city police commissioner CV Anand’s office and across other parts of the town, demanding his immediate arrest and claiming that the BJP MLA hurt the religious sentiments of the community.
Police detained the protestors at the commissioner’s office in Basheer Bagh and shifted them to several police stations.
Singh has been booked under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between two groups), 295A (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class), 505 (public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other similar sections at the Dabeerpura police station, according to news agency ANI.
“Has it become their official policy that they aren’t satisfied with Nupur Sharma and they are making other MLAs say things? People are angry. People have tears in their eyes,” AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said.
The BJP MLA released a video on Monday, criticising the stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who recently performed in the city.
Singh alleged that Faruqui hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and made remarks against the comedian and his mother. In the video, he also allegedly made derogatory remarks about the Prophet.
Singh’s controversial comments come barely months after former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma triggered a massive diplomatic backlash with her remarks on the Prophet Muhammad. Nupur Sharma was suspended by the BJP and as many as 10 cases were filed against her across the country.
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Rabia Shireen is a Staff Reporter at The Cognate.
