Politician from Modi’s party nabbed for Prophet Muhammad remark

Politician from Modi’s party nabbed for Prophet Muhammad remark

Hundreds of Muslims protested against the lawmaker yesterday evening.

Today’s arrest comes months after a BJP spokesman’s remarks led to a diplomatic backlash against India. (AP pic)
MUMBAI:
Indian police detained a state lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party today on suspicion of “promoting enmity in the name of religion” after Muslim groups demanded his arrest for his comments about the Prophet Muhammad.

The detention of T Raja Singh, a lawmaker in the southern state of Telangana, comes months after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suspended a spokesman for her remarks on the prophet that had led to a diplomatic backlash against India.

“He has been charged with promoting enmity in the name of religion,” Joel Davis, a senior police official in Hyderabad city, told Reuters.

“We have detained him and we will arrest him. This is about the recent video that he posted.”

In the video, available on social media, Singh, and in an apparent reference to the Muslim prophet, said an elderly man had married a girl decades his junior.

Singh could not be reached for comment.

The Hindu nationalist BJP would examine Singh’s remarks and take action if he was found to have violated its code, party spokesman K Krishna Rao told the News18 channel.

Hundreds of Muslims protested against Singh yesterday evening after the video appeared on social media, footage from media showed.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.