Hyderabad: Case booked after 2 youth allegedly attacked in Old City

Hyderabad: The Charminar police booked a case against a group of Muslim youngsters for allegedly attacking two persons belonging to another community on Thursday night. The incident took place when the Sri Ram Navami Shobha Yatra was held by right-wing groups in a grand way, and passed-off relatively peacefully.

Sources said the two youngsters who were part of the Sri Ram Navami festival rallies stopped near a mosque closr to the Shehran Market and raised slogans when prayers were going on. An argument happened between the local Namazis and the two youngsters after which the duo were attacked and reportedly chased away.

The police late in the night booked a case under sections 341, 323 r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and investigation is ongoing.

While the Ram Navami procession in Hyderabad passed-off peacefully otherwise for this incident, a portrait of Godse appeared at the suspended Goshamahal BJP MLA Raja Singh’s rally, which joined during the procession at Mangalhat. People who joined Singh’s fringe rally waved photos of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, now a beloved Hindutva figure.

The annual Sri Ram Navami Shobha Yatra here has become a show of strength for Hindutva groups to flex. The procession has also become a launchpad for Hindutva mascot and suspended BJP MLA Raja Singh to release new inflammatory ‘songs’ every year. In 2022, he sang a song degenerating Muslims and threatened to “kick” them out of India if they “don’t chant Ram’s name”. This year was no different.

Raja Singh as a practice has been singing songs and releasing them during the Sri Rama Navami festival each year. One of latest songs, ‘Baap Tu Baap Rahega’, was clearly a dig at the ruling government (or even the cops) for arresting him last year and putting him in the jail under the PD Act after he released a video passing derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad. He did that in retaliation against the state got allowing comic Munawar Faurqui to hold a show.

The lyrics also make mention his PD Act detention following registration of a series of cases for making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed in a video and also old cases booked against him for delivering hate speeches. The lyrics goes ‘Jail Ka Taala Tuth Gaya, Baap Tumhara Choot Gaya’. The song is of 5:10 minutes duration.