Uttar Pradash: Name-plates will have to be installed on every shop on the Kanwar route, the owner’s name and identity will have to be written… CM Yogi’s decision

The holy month of Sawan is starting from 22nd July. The Kanwar Yatra will start from the first day of Sawan. Kanwar pilgrims will set out for Haridwar, but before the yatra, an order of the UP Police has heated up the controversy. The Yogi government has issued an order for the shopkeepers and vendors on the Kanwar route. The order states that all shops and carts should write their names on them so that the Kanwar pilgrims can know from which shop they are buying the goods.

Amidst all the controversies, CM Yogi has taken steps for the Kanwar pilgrims. The Chief Minister’s Office has said that ‘nameplates’ will have to be installed on food shops on the Kanwar routes across Uttar Pradesh and the name and identity of the owner will have to be written on the shops. According to the CMO, this decision has been taken to maintain the purity of the faith of the Kanwar pilgrims and action will also be taken against those selling products with Halal certification.

UP minister openly supported the decision

UP government minister Kapil Dev Agarwal defended the decision and said, ‘Kanwadias from all over the country take water from Haridwar Gomukh and go towards their destination and especially they have to come to Muzaffarnagar. It has been seen that some people write the names of their shops, dhabas, restaurants in the name of Hindu religion while the people running them are Muslims. They are Muslims, we have no objection, the problem arises when they sell non-veg at their shops. They sell non-veg by writing Hindu religion’s Vaishno Dhaba Bhandar, Shakumbhari Devi Bhojanalaya, Shuddh Bhojanalaya. There is a big objection to that. I had demanded from the district administration that the names of those people should be written on such dhabas. What is the objection in this? Many videos have gone viral that people are spitting on roti and also spitting in restaurants.’

The picture of Muzaffarnagar’s markets changed

An order of the police has changed the picture of Muzaffarnagar’s markets. In this order, the police has argued, ‘In the holy month of Shravan, many people, especially Kanwariyas, avoid some food items in their diet. In the past, such incidents have come to light in which some shopkeepers selling food items have named their shops in such a way that a situation of confusion arose among the Kanwariyas and a law and order situation arose. To prevent this, keeping in mind the faith of the devotees, the hotels, dhabas and shopkeepers selling food items on the Kanwar route have been requested to voluntarily display the names of their owners and employees.’

The police argue that the purpose of this order is to maintain the convenience of the devotees and law and order. The effect of this order of UP Police was also seen and people put up a strip with their names on the shops, hotels and carts of Muzaffarnagar. The administration argues that this order has been issued so that the religious sentiments of the Kanwariyas are not hurt. Which the Kanwariyas also consider right.

Opposition became aggressive

Asaduddin Owaisi, president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), termed the order as clearly ‘discriminatory’ and alleged that it shows that the government wants to make Muslims ‘second class’ citizens in Uttar Pradesh and across the country. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav termed the order a “social crime” and asked the courts to take suo motu cognizance of the matter.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported

Hindu organizations allege that some shopkeepers run shops by changing their names and hiding their identity. This hurts the religious sentiments of Kanwariyas. When the police received a complaint regarding this, this order was given after investigation. After opposition parties objected to the Uttar Pradesh Police’s order to display the names of their owners from the eateries located on the Kanwar Yatra route, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday criticized them and said that this is necessary to protect the faith of Hindus.

The VHP spokesperson said that if the shopkeepers do business by revealing their identity and name, then no one will have any objection. He asked, “What do you (shopkeepers) want to do by hiding your identity?”

Let us tell you that Kanwariyas go to different districts of Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and UP through Muzaffarnagar district. Every year 4 crore Kanwariyas pick up Kanwar from Haridwar. More than 2.5 crore Kanwariyas go through Muzaffarnagar. The countdown for the Shiv Bhakti Yatra has begun. The season of Kanwar Yatra is about to come, but before that this controversy has been linked to this Yatra due to the order of UP Police.