T Raja Singh is not new to controversy. Notorious for delivering vitriolic speeches especially against Muslims, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Hyderabad’s Goshamahal has, in the past, called for violence against the community, dehumanised them, accused them of ‘Love Jihad’ and ‘Land Jihad’ and urged Hindus to boycott them socially and economically. And this is putting it mildly. In his speeches, he uses terms such as “Love Jihadi kutton,” “mulle,” “haraami” and “landya” to refer to Muslims. He also refers to old Hyderabad, which has a sizeable Muslim population, as “mini Pakistan”.
Records ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections in 2023, which he contested and won, show 87 criminal cases against Thakur Raja Singh, or Tiger Raja Singh as he refers to himself. Among the charges levied against him over the years, a majority were for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion or for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting beliefs. According to a Times of India report, the MLA had 104 FIRs against him until last year.
Despite all of this, Singh refuses to catch a break. Over the past few days, he has delivered a series of controversial and inflammatory remarks promoting communal hatred and inciting violence at the Ram Navami Shobha Yatra in Hyderabad and various other public events organised by far-Right groups in Maharashtra. From targeting minority communities and promoting cow vigilantism, to calling for destroying Aurangzeb’s tomb and renaming Shivaji University, Singh’s speeches yet again glorified violence and fuelled already simmering communal tensions in these regions.
When Words Power Violence
Let’s begin with his appearance at the Ram Navami Shobha Yatra in Hyderabad.
1. Hyderabad, Ram Navami 2025, April 6:
A large crowd gathered at Siddiamber Bazar Road before a tarpaulin-covered mosque. Singh stood there, feeding a sea of people his usual inflammatory rhetoric, calling those from a certain community, “haraamis” (sinners or bastards).
Chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’ while beginning to speak, Singh urges crowds to say it loudly so their voices reach the “haramis” who live in the country and eat what the land produces, but are hesitant to say “Bharat Mata ki Jai” or “Vande Mataram”.
“Today we are here to take an oath. Soon, we all have to march towards Maharashtra to uproot the grave of Aurangzeb, who tortured and killed my Sambhaji, destroyed Kashi and Mathura, and forced Hindus to convert.” As he says this, the crowd cheers him on. “The chief minister and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra said that they would uproot Aurangzeb’s grave; I want to ask them, when? … Fix a date, because not only the Hindus of Maharashtra, but the Hindus of our Telangana and Hindus across India are suffering and want to erase the name and mark of Aurangzeb… We will respond to those resisting the demolition of Aurangzeb’s tomb with a gada (a mace or a heavy war club). This is the gada of Bajrang Bali (Hindu deity Hanuman). Anyone who receives a blow with this, does not come back to life…” His words are nothing short of an open call to violence.
This story was originally published in altnews.in. Read the full story here.