The suspension notice, signed by BJP’s central disciplinary committee member Om Pathak, gave the Goshamahal MLA 10 days to explain why he shouldn’t be expelled from the party. The episode comes two-and-a-half months after BJP suspended former national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and ousted its Delhi media cell head Naveen Kumar Jindal for their remarks on the Prophet.
Unlike Raja, neither of the duo is an elected representative. Raja got bail late Tuesday from the court of the additional chief metropolitan magistrate on technical grounds. His lawyers argued that Hyderabad Police didn’t follow guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court, to serve notice before arrest to the accused under Section 41A of Code of Criminal Procedure.
BJP wants to destroy social fabric of India: Asaduddin Owaisi
Mobs keep Hyderabad on edge
Telangana’s capital city was on the edge over T Raja Singh’s remarks alluding to the Prophet, with a nearly 1,000-strong crowd baying for his beheading as they marched towards Hussaini Alam police station in the old city.
Protesters swelled outside Dabeerpura police station and laid siege to the Hyderabad police commissioner’s office at Basheerbagh earlier in the day, prompting the administration to deploy quick-reaction and task force teams to prevent violence.
BJP MLA’s remarks against Prophet Muhammad in ‘comedy video’ sparks massive protests in Hyderabad
Security was beefed up around the Hindu residential pockets of Mangalhat and Dhoolpet in the old city.
Rapid Action Force, Greyhound and special reserve police units had to be requisitioned from neighbouring districts for deployment in potential trouble spots. There were also tense moments outside Nampally court in the evening, where Raja’s bail hearing was underway.
Police baton-charged protesters and supporters of the MLA who had gathered there to break the barricades and charge at each other. The gathering storm, reminiscent of the backlash in the wake of suspended BJP national spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s remarks on the Prophet in May, led Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to allege that BJP was deliberately trying to polarise voters ahead of the high-stakes bypoll in Munugode.
SC’s criticism of Nupur Sharma and the social media backlash: Who crossed the ‘Laxman Rekha’?
“Does BJP want Telangana to burn for a by-election?” he said, claiming eight years of “harmony” in the state had made the party desperate to spark unrest and “sabotage investments coming to India’s software and pharma capital”.
“Aren’t they satisfied with one Nupur Sharma that they are forcing other MLAs to heap insults on the Prophet? People are angry. It’s become an official policy of BJP to unleash hatred, and the party should put a stop to this,” he added.
The MP also condemned calls for Raja’s beheading by protesting Muslims, saying the community must not make the mistake of taking the law into its own hands.
He said PM Modi and the BJP leadership should clarify whether it’s their “official policy to torture Muslims emotionally and mentally, make them feel insecure and force them to hit the roads”.
From Saudi Arabia, the UAE to Pakistan, how countries reacted to Nupur Sharma, Naveen Jindal’s controversial statements