On July 16, Citizens for Justice and Peace sent three separate complaints to relevant authorities of Maharashtra against three separate incidents of hate speeches delivered by BJP MLA Raja Singh in the month of May. In all the three incidents highlighted in the complaint, BJP MLA Raja Singh can be heard delivered provocative and inflammatory statements against the Muslim community at events organised by the Sakal Hindu Samaj.
Through the complaint, CJP has urged the authorities to take action against Singh, who is a Hyderabad resident and MLA from Goshamahal Assembly constituency. It is essential to note that Singh has been booked multiple times for making inflammatory remarks against Muslims. He has more than 40 criminal cases registered against him, and in 36 of these cases, the offence under IPC Section 153(A) has been invoked.
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Brief details of the speeches are below:
- Speech made by Singh at a Sakal Hindu Samaj event in Solapur, Maharashtra on May 3
Through his speech, Singh has used inflammatory words and incited the crowd by demonising and slurring the Muslim community, distorting history and creating suspicions around the intention of the Muslim community. In his speech, Singh made statements such as “I want to tell these people that there used to be a time when you all had committed lots of Jihad, but that time is now long gone. Now, if you do Jihad, Modi ji will come and shoot you” and “No Hindu in Kerala is safe; the state of Kerala has become a terrorist factory in India.”
2. Speech made by Singh at a Sakal Hindu Samaj event in Nashik, Maharashtra on May 14
Through his speech, Singh has instigated violence against Muslim community by peddling fake narratives in the name of ‘Jihad’, encouraged mass violence, and created enmity between Hindu and Muslim communities. In his speech, Singh made statements such as “After the elections, we will urge PM Modi to build hospitals, homes, schools, stadium and temples for Hindus at this land that these people have encroached upon. This we will demand because in the coming few years, India will become a Hindu nation” and “I can see the storm that is coming, even though the same might not be visible to you. There are more than 1500 active terrorist groups in the country and they all have the ambition of committing Ghazwa e Hind in the country. They want to have this religious fight in India itself.”
3. Speech made by Singh at a Sakal Hindu Samaj event in Sangli, Maharashtra on May 26
Through his speech, Singh has incited the crowd to provoke violence against Muslim community by peddling fake narratives in the name of Jihad, cow slaughter, encouraged mass violence, and created enmity between Hindu and Muslim communities. In his speech, Singh made statements such as “If you want to die, then shoot those with AK 47 who hail from Pakistan, commit Love-Jihad, those who indulge in religious conversions and want to finish Hindus, shoot them first” and “Never trust those who wear white skullcaps. No matter the amount of subsidy and rice you given them, the amount of support or houses you give them, these people will backstab you as they have this mentality.”
In addition to transcribing the divisive and offensive statements, the complaint also provides the multiple incidents of hate speeches by Raja Singh that had come forth in the year 2024 itself, many of which were in the state of Maharashtra. As per the details provided, in the month of January in 2024, Singh had been booked by the Mumbai police for delivering the anti-Muslim inflammatory speech in Solapur rally. In March of 2024, Karnataka police had booked Raja Singh for delivering a speech containing inflammatory remarks against Muslims at an event which was reportedly organised by Janatha Seva Group.
Highlighting the recent judgments of the Supreme Court as well as the High Courts that detailed the steps that the authorities are required to take while dealing with the issue of hate speeches being delivered at events, the complaint also provided the laws that have been violated by the said speeches under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
In view of the same, CJP requested the police to take cognizance of the video and the speech, register a case against BJP MLA Raja Singh as well as the organizer Sakal Hindu Samaj, and arrest them for the cognizable offences under the relevant sections. Additionally, CJP urged the Maharashtra police to keep us abreast of developments and the action taken in this case, based on the relevant section, as this would go a long way in re-building faith and confidence in the rule of law in general and a police-citizen relationship in particular.
The three complaints can be read below.
Solapur, Maharashtra on May 3
Nashik, Maharashtra on May 14
Sangli, Maharashtra on May 26
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