Raja Singh in Mira Road: Spree of Hate Tirades in Maharashtra Despite Legal Raps

Despite Legal Raps, are T Raja Singh's Islamophobic remarks and hate speeches going Unchecked?

T Raja Singh with MLA Geeta Jain in Mira Road

(Photo: Facebook/Geeta Jain)

"I want to ask how many forts are safe. On over 100 forts, they have either built majids or some fakir's dargahs. I want to request the ASI (Archeological Survey of India) to survey all forts that have been captured by them. I want to request Devendra Fadnavis and CM Shinde to liberate all forts of Maharaj that have been captured," said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader T Raja Singh in a rally in Thane's Mira Road, adjacent to Mumbai, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Other than this unsubstantiated claim, the 40-minute address on Sunday, 25 February, had references to 'love jihad', Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and an oath to fight for a 'Hindu-Rashtra.'

The rally organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj (SHS), an umbrella body of right-wing Hindutva outfits, witnessed the presence of over 5,000 Hindu youths, SHS leaders, and local BJP MLA Geeta Jain.

The event and the address by T Raja Singh come just a month after the area saw communal clashes for almost a week amid the inaugural ceremony of the Ram mandir in Ayodhya in January.

T Raja Singh with MLA Geeta Jain in Mira Road

(Photo: Facebook/Geeta Jain in Mira Road)

While the police earlier denied permission for Singh's rally given sensitive nature of the events that occurred in January, Singh managed to secure 'conditional permission' from the Bombay High Court just two days before the event on 23 February.

While the vocabulary and statements are typical of T Raja Singh in several such events, and has been extensively reported on in the past, his speeches are a highlight of far right wing Hindutva events taking place in Maharashtra in 2022 and 2023 under the SHS banner. Despite multiple FIRs in the state and across the country, how are Singh's hate speeches going unchecked?

Raja of 'Hate'

In Maharashtra alone, Singh delivered a spree of hate speeches between 2022 and 2023, specifically at rallies organised by the SHS.

In October 2022, Singh was suspended from the BJP for his controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad.

In January 2023, at a SHS rally held in Mumbai's Dadar, Singh said: "All Hindus should demand a law against religious conversions else we are capable of making it on our own. You (government) shoot them or we know how to shoot.” In the same rally, he also urged Hindus to not buy products from Muslims.

Some of the cases registered against Singh in 2023 in Maharashtra alone:

• An FIR was registered against him two months later in March by the Dadar police under section 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion).

• Exactly a year ago on Shivaji Jayanti on 19 February 2023, an FIR was registered in Latur for delivering an inflammatory speech at an event.

• A few weeks later on 10 March, Singh at a rally in Ahmednagar said that all those involved in 'love jihad' should be 'cut into pieces'.

• On 19 March, 2023, Singh addressed a rally in Sambhaji Nagar (then Aurangabad) to call for 'shooting' those involved in 'love jihad'.

• In January this year, an FIR for alleged hate speech was registered in Solapur against Singh and BJP MLA Nitish Rane after an address at an event that also had leaders of the SHS in presence.

Across the country, Singh is facing:

• 17 charges under IPC Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion).

• 9 charges under IPC Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or beliefs).

• 10 charges under IPC Section 147 (punishment for rioting)

• 7 charges IPC Section 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon)

• There are 43 cases currently active against Singh across the country - including one for attempt to murder - out of which charges have been framed in 27 cases.

• Till date, Singh has not been convicted in any case.

A recent report published by India Hate Lab (IHL), that highlights the scale and aftereffects of hate speeches delivered in 2023 across India, flags contribution of Singh in spreading hate in 2023 alone.

A few key highlights of the report:

• Singh spoke at 23 events, 14 of which were termed as 'dangerous speeches' with calls to violence against Muslims.

• Singh, along with AHP chief Pravin Togadia and Hindutva activist Kajal Hindustani, are the top three sources of 'dangerous speech' as per the report.

• "In his speeches, Singh openly advocated for the killing of "love jihadis" (a derogatory reference for Muslims). During an event in Hyderabad Telangana, in March, Singh openly threatened violence against Muslims, stating: You are half cut (circumcised), we will cut you fully. At another event in Adilabad, Telangana, on June 4, he encouraged the crowd to "tie every love jihadi upside down and beat them if they enter your village," the report said.

• Among BJP's Nitesh Rane, Togadia, Hindustani, Sudarshan News owner Suresh Chavhanke, Hindu religious leaders Yati Narsinghanand, Kalicharan Maharaj, and Sadhvi Saraswati Mishra as the top 'key offenders', Singh is the fifth biggest purveyor of hate speeches against Muslims.

'Conditional' Permissions, Defiance of Orders

The conditional permission to Singh from the court to address a rally in Mira Road is not the first such order.

In January this year, the Supreme Court refused to direct authorities in Maharashtra's Yavatmal and Chhattisgarh's Raipur to deny permission to Singh for his scheduled rallies.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Kapil Sibal stressed that no action was being taken against Singh despite multiple FIRs, and that filing of cases was also not deterring Singh from giving provocative speeches.

While the bench agreed that Singh's speeches have been objectionable, it cannot preempt them to pass an order to deny permission.

The court, however, ordered the district magistrates of Yavatmal and Raipur to "be cautious of the fact that no incitement to violence or hate speech can be permitted." A week after the SC order, Singh reiterated demands for the formation of 'Hindu rashtra' at an event in Raipur on 23 January.

The Buck Stops With the Police (And the BJP)

Legal experts say that despite court interventions and orders, there is only as much the legal system do if the police does not follow up on FIRs.

"Generally, courts in India have been very reluctant to put prior restraints. They have basically always said that they cannot put prior restraint on speeches. That person might just say or do that thing anyway, and then he may be pulled up for contempt and so on. If we take the most famous instance - Kalyan Sigh, then CM of Uttar Pradesh gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court that he will not let anything happen to the Babri Masjid but it was demolished. The court couldn't do anything other than giving him a sentence on contempt of court," legal expert Alok Prasanna Kumar said.

"The real problem here is the police. Because you cannot ask the court to do the police's job. There are times when the police does not take its job seriously and they are perfectly happy to let all of this happen. They file FIRs and the just keep them pending. They have all evidence with them but they don't want to go ahead with the prosecution, they don't want to file charge sheets," he said.

"There are MP/MLA courts so that the cases related to them move quickly and the prosecution takes place. But it all depends on the seriousness of the police. That is the fundamental question to be asked here. The police which rushes down to chase random people over random Facebook posts - here you have a person who does this openly and in full public view, they video record it and sit quietly thinking 'let's see what happens'," Kumar added.

Senior Advocate Naveed Ahmad echoed Kumar's views, adding that the courts do have the power to take cognizance and nudge the police to take action if the undertakings have been violated by Singh.

"The court can pull up the police for not taking action if an undertaking is violated. If a rally is held despite permission being denied, then too the court can intervene," Ahmad said.

As far as the latest speech in Mira Road is concerned, the police said that his speech is still being scrutinised and appropriate action will be taken if it is found that he defied the Bombay HC's orders and undertaking.

Meanwhile, the age-old question of the political backing of the BJP to Singh remains. Ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections in October 2023, Singh was reinstated in the party, a year after he suspension over controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad.

He not only contested and won on the party ticket, he refused to take oath in the Assembly over the interim Speaker being from the rival All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

Scores of his rallies under SHS, including the one held in Mumbai last year, see the presence of prominent leaders of the party along with right-wing Hindutva outfits.

A three-time MLA from Goshamahal, reports suggest that talks are now underway for him to be fielded for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from either Hyderabad or Secundarabad.