Former BJP MLA suspended for insulting Prophet wants Muslim traders thrown away from Murdeshwar
Says beef-eaters are impuring historic temples, lauds CM Bommai for "raising Hijab row"
Murudeshwar (Karnataka): Former BJP MLA Raja Singh who was suspended from the party for insulting Prophet Mohammed, has once again courted controversy after one of his videos from Murudeshwara is being widely shared on local social media platforms.
In the video, the former MLA from Telangana is seen standing at the Murudeshwara beach, calling on Karnataka CM and right-wing fringe groups to vacate Muslim vendors and traders near the beach as their presence near the Murudeshwar Temple impures the historic temple.
“During my two-day stay here, where followers of Lord Shiv come from various parts of the country, near the beachside, non-Hindus have encroached the area and have set up sheds for their businesses. These are encroached sheds.
“Totally around 3-4 thousand families have come and encroached here who oppose Lord Shiv, who don’t believe in Hindu religion and eat beef. You know which religion I am talking about. This is not the case only in Murdeshwar, these people are encroaching on all the areas where our historic temples are located and they are impuring our temples.” He said in the video.
He further lauded Karnataka CM for "raising the Hijab row" and called on him to pay attention to issues like this and vacate Muslim traders near temples.
“I request the Chief Minister of Karnataka and other Hindutva organizations to take note of this and throw these people away from these sites.” He added.
Contrary to the claims by the former MLA that the traders had encroached on the beachside, one of the traders who has a stall near Murudeshwar Beach and the temple, confirmed to Vartha Bharati that the shops and stalls set up at the beach are not illegal and are set up with the permission of district administration.
“We have not set anything up illegally. We have had our businesses here for several years, we pay rent, and we have valid permission from the district administration for setting up these stalls.” The trader who did not wish to be named said.
Raja Singh was a member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly representing the Goshamahal assembly constituency in Hyderabad. He is a former member of Telugu Desam Partyuntil he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was part of the BJP until 23 August 2022 when he was suspended over allegations of insulting Prophet Mohammed. Raja served as the party whip for Telangana when he was in Bharatiya Janata Party.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
