Massive protests, bandh sparks Hyd over BJP MLA Raja Singh's comments

Hyderabad: Tension prevailed in the city following BJP MLA, T Raja Singh's alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed. Bandh was observed in parts of the city on Tuesday, several shops and commercial establishments in various markets in Old city voluntarily remain closed. Stickers of Raja Singh were also pasted on roads with shoe prints on his face.

After his comments on Prophet Mohammed, scores of people started protesting on streets demanding strict action. Following his video, the BJP MLA was booked, and was later arrested. Many people were also taken into custody by the police on Tuesday after the protests broke out. In Nampally, near the court, some protestors who turned up in the court were also lathi-charged by the police personnel to disperse the crowd.

Scores of people, especially youngsters took out various rallies from Monday late night. On Tuesday, massive rallies were taken out at historic Charminar, Malakpet, Chaderghat, Shalibanda, TalabKatta, Kalapather, Barkas, Amberpet, Nampally, Bahadurpura, Tolichowki, Karwan and various parts of the city. After his comments, an outrage was seen among Muslims who gathered holding black flags in various groups to protest against Raja Singh's statements. The crowd chanted 'Raja Singh Murdabad' and 'Raja Singh ko phansi do' as it marched down the street in various parts of the city. They demanded legal action against the MLA.

Moreover, people called for a bandh and also the shops and commercial establishments downed their shutters. Markets including Charminar, Lad Bazar, Gulzar Houz, Pathergatti, Jagdish market in Abids, King Kothi market and few shops in Begum Bazar remained closed. In Malakpet and Chaderghat, stickers of BJP Raja Singh with shoe prints on his face were pasted on roads and black flags were set up in the middle of the streets as a mark of protest.

In evening, when the MLA was granted bail, protests continued in various parts of the city. Massive crowd gathered near the Central Jail in Chanchalguda where the protesters protested against him. An effigy of Raja Singh was also burnt near the Jail.

Earlier during Monday late night, protesters gathered at various police stations, ACP, and DCP offices, Hyderabad City Police Commissionerate and DGP office and demanded the arrest of MLA. Anticipating more protests, a heavy police force has been deployed at various parts of the city including offices of the Hyderabad CP and DGP offices and old police commissioner office at Purani Haveli. Police pickets have also been posted in communally sensitive areas of Hyderabad and in the Old City.

After the stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui's show was successfully held in the city on Saturday, Raja Singh released a video late night on Monday. Calling it 'comedy', he made derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed, and also abused comedian Munawar Faruqui, his mother and remarks about Islam. Earlier, Raja Singh said if Munawar Faruqui is allowed to hold a show, he too will hold a comedy show on August 22.

In a 10-minute video which is now private, Raja Singh said, "After he (Munawar) is abusing Lord Ram and Sita, so I should research about the almighty of his and people who wear round caps referring Muslims. The moment I did, I found something very shocking in a video. The video said it is about a 53-year-old man. In that, it says that the man married a six-year-old," said the MLA. In this video he was referring to Prophet Mohammed similarly as the ex-BJP leader Nupur Sharma.