ALIGARH MUNICIPAL Corporation’s BSP corporator, Musharraf Hussain Mahzar, has been booked for allegedly trying to disturb communal harmony. It has been alleged that as Mahzar took oath in Urdu Tuesday, some Muslim corporators raised religious slogans. An FIR has been lodged under Section 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC at Bannadevi police station in Aligarh on Wednesday, following a complaint lodged by BJP corporator Pushpendra Jadaun. Mahzar, too, has lodged a complaint against unidentified BJP men for allegedly attacking him and attempting to kill him at the police station. However, no FIR was lodged in this connection till late on Thursday. Aligarh SSP Rajesh Kumar Pandey said: “I was present at the oath-taking ceremony. Slogans were being raised from both sides. But while Musharraf was taking oath, some corporators from his side raised slogans such as ‘Allahu Akbar’, following which corporators from the other side too indulged in sloganeering.” “An FIR has been lodged as the sloganeering from Musharraf’s side caused tension and it could have led to a serious situation,” he added. However, Mahzar said: “The allegation is baseless. BJP corporators were raising slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Har Har Mahadev’ when I started taking oath in Urdu. I admit that a few Muslim corporators raised slogans such as ‘Nara-e-Takbeer’ but that is not provoking. Instead, I was attacked by BJP members. had the police officers not rescued me, they would have killed me.”
