The Majlis Bachao Tahreek (MBT) is exploring the legal options to register a criminal case against BJP’s Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh Lodh, who allegedly made an offensive remark against the people of Old City of Hyderabad on Tuesday.
“On the pretext of speaking about terrorism, Raja Singh directly targeted the Muslims living in the Old City and referred to them as “Pakistani”. His contention that Old City is becoming “Mini Pakistan” is an insult to all the residents of Old City of Hyderabad. He misused the floor of the Telangana State Legislative Assembly to tarnish the image of Old City people by linking them with terrorism,” MBT leader and Azampura Corporator Amjed Ullah Khan said in a statement here on Wednesday.
Amjed Ullah Khan said although Raja Singh’s hate speech, which was made on the floor of the House, has been expunged from records by Speaker S Madhusudan Chary, crores of people watched it live on their television sets. “This provocative statement has been widely reported by all leading newspapers on Wednesday. The video clipping has been uploaded on social media networks like YouTube, Face book, etc., Raja Singh has tried to defame the people of Old City and create enmity among two religious groups from the Assembly premises. Therefore, he is liable to be booked for making hate speech,” he said.
Since the statement was made in Assembly, the MBT has sought legal opinion to proceed further. Besides registration a criminal case, the MBT will approach the concerned authorities including Election Commission of India seeking disqualification of Raja Singh as an MLA, he said.
The MBT leader also accused the political parties, especially the All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) of remaining silent on Raja Singh’s statement. “The MIM MLAs not only remained silent, they did not even lodge a formal complaint with the Speaker against the hate speech of BJP MLA Raja Singh. He recalled how the MBT founder late Md Aman Ullah Khan had stalled the proceedings of the Assembly when a BJP MLA A Narendra had made some controversial comments against Muslims of Old City previously,” he said.
“The TRS members did not allow TDP MLA A Revanth Reddy to speak in the House seeking his apology over his comments on Nizamabad MP K Kavitha. But they remained silent when Raja Singh targeted lakhs of Muslims living in the Old City of Hyderabad. Similarly, the Congress legislators too remained mute spectators,” alleged Amjed Ullah Khan.
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