PDP president Mehbooba Mufti also slammed the order, saying it is against the Constitution which guarantees equal rights to all.
NEW DELHI – The Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments’ directive to eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names drew more criticism Saturday with Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind slamming it as “discriminatory and communal”.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani said the order was part of a “new game of politics under the guise of religion,” reported PTI.
“This is a completely discriminatory and communal decision, and anti-national elements will get an opportunity to benefit from this,” Madani said in a statement.
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There is fear of serious damage to communal harmony due to this new decree which violates the fundamental rights of citizens as enshrined in the Constitution, he said.
Madani said the Jamiat has called a meeting of its legal team on Sunday to discuss the legal aspects of this “unconstitutional and illegal” order.
“This is not the first Kanwar yatra, it has been going on for years but never before has a citizen been forced to reveal his religious identity. Rather, during the yatra, it is seen that Muslims have been arranging water and langar for the Kanwar pilgrims,” he said.
Days after the Muzaffarnagar Police asked all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday extended the controversial order across the state. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said similar instructions are already in place in his state as well.
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The Congress on Friday had termed the order “mischief” and “bigotry”.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti also slammed the order, saying it is against the Constitution which guarantees equal rights to all.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, she said, “Rahul Gandhi was right when he said that if they (BJP) get over 400 seats, they will destroy the Constitution. They have come to 240 from 350 seats, but they have not learnt their lesson, they continue to do the opposite of what the Constitution says.”
“First they (BJP) want to trample the rights of the Muslims, then will be the turn of the Dalits and then backward and other castes because they want to create a different system and what they did in UP is against the Constitution of this country,” she added.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA from Indore-2 assembly seat Ramesh Mendola wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav urging him to make it mandatory for all shopkeepers in Madhya Pradesh to display their names outside their shops.
“The name of any person is his identity. A person is proud of his name. Asking for the name is the customer’s right and the shopkeeper should be proud to tell his name, not be ashamed,” he said.
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Mendola, a four-time MLA, said that every small and big trader, all businessmen and shopkeepers of Madhya Pradesh can feel this sense of pride in telling their names.
“I have written a letter to the chief minister and requested him to issue an order mandating the shopkeepers to display their own name in front of every shop in Madhya Pradesh. I urge the government to frame rules in this regard,” the legislator said.
