Samajwadi Party leader Rais Shaikh had written a letter to BMC Commissioner demanding to stop asking Muslim patients to shave off beard for minor operations. Samajwadi Party has alleged that doctors of BMC hospitals ask Muslim patients to shave off their beards before surgery.

Speaking to media he said, "I live near a BMC hospital and have been observing that even for a minor operation, the beards of people, especially of the Muslim leaders were being shaved off. I have demanded it from the BMC that when there is not a life-threatening situation, the beard must only be shaved off only after taking the consent of the patient. Constitution has granted everyone freedom of religious practice. Hence I have demanded a draft to be made of a standard procedure through which no one's religious sentiments are heard while doctors do their duty."