The suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Telangana, T. Raja Singh, has been spreading hate against the Muslim community by urging Hindu women not to befriend women wearing burqas. Despite being directed by the Telangana high court to refrain from making inflammatory comments, Singh has continued to spread hatred against Muslims on multiple occasions. He was previously booked and imprisoned for 75 days for making blasphemous remarks against Prophet Mohammed in August 2022.
During his recent comments in Adilabad town, Singh stated that he would only befriend individuals with a tilak (a religious mark) on their forehead, considering them his Hindu brothers. He also advised Hindu women against making friendships with women wearing burqas, claiming that there is a new threat from Ayesha, who is allegedly introducing Hindu women to Aftabs. Singh’s continuous dissemination of hate speech against the minority community disregards the instructions of the court while he remains out on conditional bail.
Singh’s mention of Aftabs and Ayeshas in his speech is related to the controversial film “The Kerala Story,” which alleges the forcible conversion of Malayali women to Islam and their association with the terrorist group ISIS. Although the claims made by the film have been questioned, the BJP has exploited it to promote the “love jihad” conspiracy theory. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the film during an election speech in Karnataka, drawing criticism from the opposition.
Despite being warned against such behavior by the Telangana high court, Singh, an MLA from Hyderabad’s Goshamahal, continues to deliver provocative speeches against the minority community. He has participated in rallies organized by Hindutva groups in Maharashtra, where he openly called for the boycott of Muslims and incited Hindus to resort to violence against them. In January, during the Hindu Janakrosh Morcha organized by Sakal Hindu Samaj in Mumbai, Singh made derogatory remarks and advocated for direct violence against Muslims, leading the Mangalhat police of Hyderabad city to serve him a show-cause notice.
In March, during the Ram Navami Shoba Yatra procession in Hyderabad, Singh urged the Hindu community to strive for the establishment of a unified Hindu state, questioning the opposition to the concept of an “Akhand Hindu Rashtra” (unified Hindu nation) by referring to the existence of numerous Islamic and Christian countries.
