An FIR was filed on Tuesday against Sharjeel Usmani in Pune for his speech at Elgar Parishad conclave held recently. The FIR was lodged under Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code at the Swargate Police Station by the regional secretary of Bhartiya Yuva Janta Morcha, Pradip Haribhou Gawade.

Earlier in the day, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis alleged that Usmani, an alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University, had insulted sentiments of Hindus during his speech at the Elgar Parishad event and demanded strict action against him.

Fadnavis, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, also said the state government, which is headed by the Shiv Sena and comprises the NCP and Congress, didn’t register an FIR against Usmani despite the demands made by the BJP.

Fadnavis said, “In a video, Sharjeel Usmani is speaking at the Elgar Parishad. Usmani allegedly insulted sentiments of the Hindu community. A person comes in Maharashtra, insults sentiments, and returns to his home state without facing any legal action. If the state government fails to take any action against him, then we will assume that the government is behind Usmani”.

The conclave was organised on Saturday and among those who participated in it included eminent novelist Arundhati Roy, former IPS officer SM Mushrif, former Bombay High Court judge BG Kolse-Patil, and Usmani.

On Monday, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had said the state government will examine if any objectionable speeches were made at conclave and will take action accordingly.

Deshmukh said, “We have asked for videos of all the speeches made at the Elgar Parishad. We will have to examine if anything objectionable was said or not, and action will be taken accordingly.”

(With agency inputs)