As allies, senior leader question UP order on Kanwar route eateries, BJP says gives ‘Hindus equal rights’

The BJP, however, defended the police order, saying it allows fasting Hindus who may want to eat at a pure vegetarian restaurant, “where the likelihood of them being served Satvik food is higher”, a choice.

Speaking to The Indian Express, JD(U) leader K C Tyagi said the Kanwar Yatra was taken out in several places across the country, including Bihar, UP and Rajasthan. “There has never been any communal flare-up. If there are any anti-social elements, the police are competent to tackle them. If we demarcate on a religious level, communal harmony will suffer,” Tyagi said.

He added: “Across the western UP belt from where the Yatra passes, there are places where 30-40% of the population is Muslim. Muslim artisans are also involved in making the kanwars which the pilgrims carry, and in arranging food for the Yatris.”

While steps for security arrangements were fine, “no message should go out that creates a communal divide”, Tyagi said. “Has there ever been a riot on the route of the Yatra?”

The RLD, whose political bastion is western UP, also questioned the need for such a directive by the Muzaffarnagar police. “They should provide security arrangements but there is no need to make people display their names on shops. That is not the work of the administration,” RLD spokesperson Anil Dubey said.

Naqvi, a former Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, posted on X: “Kuchch ati-utsahi adhikariyon ke aadesh hadbadi mein gadbadi wale… asparshata ki bimari ko badhawa de sakte hain. Aastha ka samman hona hi chahiye par asparshta ka sanrakshan nahin hona chahiye (The hasty orders of some over-zealous officials will create trouble… promote the evil of untouchability. Faith must be respected, but untouchability must not be patronized).”

Later, the former Union minister posted a photograph of himself participating in the Kanwar Yatra, saying he needed no lectures regarding respect and faith in it from anyone.

In a fresh order Thursday, the Muzaffarnagar administration urged shopowners to voluntarily display their names. “During the holy month of Shravan, many people, especially Kanwariyas, abstain from certain food items in their diet,” the notice said. “In the past, certain instances have come into light where a few of the food sellers on the Kanwar Yatra route have named their shops in such a way that has created a state of confusion among the yatris, leading to a law and order situation. To avoid the repetition of such a situation this year and also keeping in mind the faith of the devotees, the owners and proprietors of the hotels, dhabas and other food item sellers along the route were requested to display the names of their owners and workers on their own will.”

The notice added: “The intent of this order is not to create any religious differences but was only to facilitate the convenience of devotees… and to avoid any allegations and law and order situation. Such an order has also been prevalent in the past.”

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Saharanpur range) Ajay Kumar Sahni said: “There have been instances where certain shops sold non-vegetarian food items or people from certain religious communities opened shops under the name of another community.” The decision to seek display of owners’ names was meant to ensure no such problems were created, he said, adding that “owners and proprietors have willingly agreed to do this”.

BJP IT Department head Amit Malviya posted on X that almost two decades ago, all eateries in Mumbai’s business district prominently displayed the name of the eatery, owner, contact number. “If this wasn’t discriminatory, then why should an order in Muzaffarnagar be seen with a different lens just because it is Uttar Pradesh,” he said. “India’s ‘secularism’ can’t be so fragile that a uniform order asking all eateries to display name and contact number of the owner/workers should disrupt it… Is giving Hindus equal right to choice a sin?”

Malviya also accused “secularists” of assuming that this order was against Muslims. “Because they know that several Muslims acquire overtly Hindu names for their businesses, from coaching institutes to food joints, and indulge in not just violating religious sensibilities but also conversions and worse.”

Giridhari Yadav, the JD(U) Lok Sabha MP from Banka in Bihar, which falls on the route of the Kanwar Yatra in the state, said he knows of no “Hindu-Muslim issue” regarding it. “Hindus and Muslims live together in our state… Dharm shraddha ki cheez hai (religion is a matter of faith). We attend Muslim festivals and they also respect our religion.”

Another JD(U) MP, Ajay Kumar Mandal, whose constituency Bhagalpur too falls on the Bihar Kanwar Yatra route, said: “Ask those who issued the order. What can I say on this matter?”

The JD(U) with its 12 MPs is a crucial partner in the Narendra Modi government, with the BJP failing to get a majority in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

The Samajwadi Party was among the first in the Opposition to criticise the Muzaffarnagar police order. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav called it “a social crime aimed at dividing society”, in a post on X, and urged the judiciary to get to “the bottom of the intent” and take action.

Welcoming the revised advisory by the Muzaffarnagar police as “a victory of unity born of love and harmony”, Akhilesh said Thursday: “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… Such orders should be completely rejected.”

The Congress’s Media and Publicity Department head, Pawan Khera, suggested that the order was as much against Muslims as Dalits, saying it was not clear whom “the economic boycott” was meant for. “Those who wanted to decide who eats what, will now also decide who buys what and from whom,” said Khera.

The Congress leader said that when concerns had been raised about such food restrictions earlier, the counter from the BJP side was why similar objections were not raised about eateries specifying that they served halal meat. “The answer to this is that even when a hotel board says pure vegetarian, we do not ask the name of the hotel owner, cook, or waiter.”

While shops or stalls specifying that they serve ‘pure vegetarian’, ‘jhatka’, ‘halal’ or ‘kosher’ help a consumer make a choice, Khera said, “Who will benefit from writing the name of the dhaba owner? India’s major meat exporters are Hindus. Does the meat sold by Hindus become dal bhaat? Similarly, will the mangoes and guavas sold by some Altaf or Rashid become meat?”

BSP chief Mayawati said that the directive should be immediately withdrawn, saying it set “a wrong tradition, which can spoil the harmonious atmosphere”.

AIMIM president and MP Asaduddin Owaisi said UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should pass a written order in this regard. “Hitler also boycotted Jews. A similar boycott is being done by the UP government… Is one yatra so important that you ruin the livelihood of others? Will you work for one community, and where is the Constitution then?” Owaisi said, adding that the Modi government’s professed admiration for the Constitution was “a drama”. —With ENS inputs