In a shocking incident, Harikant Ahluwalia, a mayor of the Meerut Municipal Corporation allegedly refused to allow some of the corporators to take part in a meeting after they reportedly refused to sing Vande Mataram before the day’s proceedings commenced.
According to reports, the BJP leader further issued an order stating that people who had a problem with singing Vande Mataram will not be allowed to join in the meetings of the of the Nagar Nigam in the coming future. Apparently, the seven corporators belonging to the minority community took off soon after the people present started singing Vande Mataram. At least 90 of them were present there.
When the corporators returned to join the meeting after a short while, Ahluwalia refused to allow them. The reports further suggest that when the Mayor announced his decision, some of the corporators shouted in agreement asserting that if one had to live in this country they will have to say “Vande Mataram”.
“The mayor ordered us to sing Vande Mataram and threatened that he will not let us sit in the Sadan (House) if we do not follow his directive. It is up to us whether we will sing it or not. The orders were delivered rudely, so we decided to boycott the proceedings,” Afzal Saifi, one of the corporators who left the place told the daily.
Meanwhile, Ahluwalia asserted that out of 90 corporators 18 were Muslims and only a few had a problem in singing Vande Mataram adding that everyone present there decided in unison that the corporators who refused to sing Vande Mataram should be boycotted. He also claimed that the leaders who refused to sing Vande Mataram belonged to Samajwadi Party.
