As the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are underway in full swing, a second police case has been filed against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raghvendra Singh for giving hate speech against the Muslim community.
In an address to his supporters, the video of which is viral on social media, Singh can be heard saying that the ones who do not vote for him or the BJP are traitors and that he will get DNA tests done to check if such voters are Hindus or 'miyan log' (a derogatory term used to refer to Muslims).
Singh is the BJP candidate from Domriyaganj constituency that is set to vote in the sixth phase on 3 March. The UP chief of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a body formed by Yogi Adityanath in 2002, Singh was elected as the MLA from Domariyaganj in 2017.
What Singh Said in the Speech
While urging people to vote for the BJP, he said if Hindus vote for anybody else, it means that have the blood of 'miyans' flowing in their veins and that they can be considered "traitors" and "illegitimate children of Jaichand."
Jaichand was a 12th-century Rajput king who is believed to have betrayed Prithviraj Chauhan (Prithviraj III) in the second battle of Tarain against the invading Afghan forces of Muhammad Ghori, in 1192 AD.
"Give me their names and I will get their blood tested to see if they are Hindus or Miyans. I will get their DNA test done," he added.
He further warned Muslims of dire consequences and send them to Pakistan if they "looked at Hindu girls."
Police Action
In a reply to a tweet by journalist Deepak Sharma, the police had said that the matter has been considered and the relevant police station had been asked to file a case.
An FIR has been registered at the Dumariyaganj police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between classes) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), as reported by The Wire.
Repeat Offender
This is the second case of hate speech being filed against Singh amid the on going election.
Earlier, Singh had drawn backlash for saying that just like 'gol topis' (skull caps) vanished after he won the election in 2017, 'miyan log' (a derogatory term used to refer to Muslims) will start wearing tilak if he wins this time.
He had later defended his comment by saying that he was referring to the fact that Hindus were forced to wear skull caps by "Islamic terrorists".
The UP police had filed a case after the video of Singh's comments had gone viral on social media.
'Why Has Candidature Not Been Cancelled Yet?'
Many took to Twitter to urge the Election Commission (EC) to take serious action against Singh and cancel his candidature.
Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla took to Twitter to ask the EC why Singh's candidature has not been cancelled yet.
Media convener of TRS party, Y Sathish Reddy called it a "result of 7 years of Modi rule."
Writer Kaushik Raj took to Twitter to call the speech "criminal in nature."
Filmmaker Onir tweeted to demand for Singh's arrest for inciting violence.
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