Activists and journalists describe the move as unconstitutional and divisive.
Team Clarion
MUZAFFARNAGAR – The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district have come under fire after directing vendors, hotels and eateries to display names of the owners on their businesses. The move is aimed to identify the religion of the owners on the route taken by the annual Hindu pilgrimage of Kanwar Yatra.
Talking to reporters, Muzaffarnagar SSP Abhishek Singh said all shops dealing with edible items have been directed to display the names of their owners and proprietors on the 240-km Kanwar Yatra route.
“Preparations for the Kanwar Yatra have started. All eateries such as hotels, vendors and dhabas have been directed to display the names of their proprietors and owners. This has been done to avoid any confusion among the Kanwar Yatris creating a law-and-order situation,” said Singh.
Noted Muslim leader and former chairman of Delhi Minority Commission, Zafarul Islam Khan, posted the video statement issued by Singh on Wednesday through his X account. The video shows vendors putting up billboards on their stalls and shops carrying their names.
According to reports, the decision was taken by the administration after Hindutva priest Swami Yashvir Maharaj had demanded that Muslim traders display their names on their shops, vendors and hotels. The priest at an ashram in Muzaffarnagar’s Baghra had last year demanded action against Muslim hotels and dhabas alleging that they were running their businesses under the names of Hindu deities.
Last week, Uttar Pradesh minister Kapil Dev Agrawal had also said that Muslim traders should not name their shops and hotels after Hindu deities.
“Muslims run their shops in the Kanwar fair by naming them after Hindu gods and goddesses. They should run their shop. We don’t have any objections. But they should not name their shops after Hindu gods and goddesses as people from other places who are part of Kanwar Yatra have tea at these shops. When they come to know about this, controversies erupt. Therefore, there should be transparency. Thereafter, no controversies erupt,” Agrawal was quoted by Aaj Tak as saying.
Meanwhile, the move has been denounced by opposition leaders, activists and journalists describing it as “unconstitutional” and “divisive”.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said: “Not just political parties, all right-thinking people and the media must rise against this state-sponsored bigotry. We cannot allow the BJP to push the country back into dark ages.”
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra called it “blantantly illegal”. She said “What next? Muslims to wear equivalent of Star of David on their sleeve to mark themselves? The next time kanwars or their families need a doctor or blood find another kanwar to treat them. @Uppolice @CMOfficeUP this is blatantly illegal & anti-constitutional”.
Prominent rights activists and Delhi University Professor Apoorvanand asked whether there could be “a more unconstitutional order creating division!! See how the officer is saying it with a straight face!!!”
Journalist Ziya Us Salam said: “They are making a mockery of our Constitution. Through guile and cunning, citizens are being divided on the basis of religion and caste”.
