The Uttar Pradesh Police in Muzaffarnagar have asked eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of owners or proprietors “to avoid any confusion” among the yatris.
“Preparations have begun for the kanwar yatra. In the area under our jurisdiction, which is around 240 km, all eateries – hotels, dhabas, thelas (roadside carts) – have been instructed to display the names of their proprietors or those running the shop. This is being done to ensure that there’s no confusion among the kanwarias and no allegations are raised in the future, leading to a law and order situation. Everyone is following this of their own free will,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Abhishek Singh said while talking to the media on Tuesday.
After a row erupted over this directive by the police, Muzaffarnagar Police on Thursday said that they have urged all the eateries to “voluntarily display” the names of their owners and employees.
The officials added that the intention of this order was not to create any kind of “religious discrimination” but only to facilitate the devotees, ANI reported.
“In the past, such instances have come to light where some shopkeepers selling all types of food items on Kanwar Marg named their shops in such a way that it created confusion among the Kanwariyas and created a law and order situation,” officials added.
AIMIM chief Asaddudin Owaisi slammed the UP Police and likened the significant move to “apartheid” in South Africa and “judenboycott” in Hitler’s Germany.
“As per the order of Uttar Pradesh Police, now every food shop or cart owner will have to put his name on the board so that no Kanwariya buys anything from a Muslim shop by mistake. This was called Apartheid in South Africa and in Hitler’s Germany it was called ‘Judenboycott’,” Owaisi said in a post on X.
Earlier this month, Muzaffarnagar MLA and Minister of State (independent charge) Kapil Dev Aggarwal in the Uttar Pradesh government had held a meeting on preparations for the yatra. He had said that while he had no objection to Muslims running businesses in the area, they should not name their shops after Hindu gods or goddesses to avoid any conflict, Indian Express reported.
Last year, Swami Yashvir Maharaj, a priest from a prominent ashram in Muzaffarnagar’s Baghra, demanded that Muslim traders display their names on their shops and hotels.
Meanwhile, UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday reviewed the preparations for the Kanwar Yatra, which begins on July 22, and provided necessary guidelines.