In the wake of outrage over the Muzaffarnagar police’s order to eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names, the district police on Thursday furnished a fresh order making such declaration a ‘voluntary’ exercise.
“In the past, incidents have come to light where some shopkeepers selling all kinds 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. To prevent such a repeat, hotels, dhabas and shopkeepers selling food items on Kanwar route have been requested to voluntarily display the names of their owners,” reads the order.
‘Victory of harmony’
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav dubbed the revised decision by the administration a victory of love and harmony. “The Muzaffarnagar police, succumbing to public brotherhood and pressure from the Opposition, has finally patted its own back by making the administrative order of hotels, fruit vendors and cart vendors to display their names voluntary, but the public that loves peace and tranquillity is not going to accept this. Such orders should be completely rejected. The honourable court should intervene positively and ensure through the government that the administration will not do any such divisive work in future. This is the victory of unity born out of love and harmony,” wrote Mr. Yadav on X.
Also read: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi slams UP police fiat to display names of owners, staff of eateries
Earlier, the SP leader described the order to display names of proprietors as “social crime”. “The honourable court should take suo motu cognisance and investigate the intentions of the government behind such step by the administration and take appropriate punitive action. Such orders are social crimes, which are aimed at spoiling the peaceful atmosphere of harmony,” he said.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati also asked the U.P. government to withdraw the order in the public interest. “The government order to all the hotels, dhabas, cart shopkeepers etc. on the Kanwar Yatra route in western U.P. and Muzaffarnagar district to prominently display the full name of the owner is a wrong tradition that can spoil the harmonious atmosphere. The government should immediately withdraw it in the public interest,” said the former four-time Chief Minister.
BJP leader and former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, in an indirect reference to the issue, said such hasty orders may give rise to untouchability. “The hasty orders of some over-zealous officials may give rise to the disease of untouchability. Faith must be respected, but untouchability must not be patronised,” he wrote on X, along with a Hindi rhyme translated as, “Don’t ask about birth or caste, what is caste and lineage? All are sons of the Lord, none are of low caste.”
