Kanwar Yatra: Police Ask Eatery Owners To Show Names To Rule Out 'Confusion'; Politicians React

Adding fuel to the row that erupted over the eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar being asked to disclose their owners' names, the Muzaffarnagar Police today announced that, in a fresh advisory, they had urged all the shopkeepers to voluntarily show the names of their owners and employees to rule out any 'confusion'.

Kanwar Yatra 2024: About the police order

According to Muzaffarnagar police, they don't intend to create any kind of religious discrimination but only to facilitate the devotees during the Kanwar Yatra.

"During the Shravan month Kanwar Yatra, a large number of Kanwariyas from neighbouring states, via Western Uttar Pradesh, collect water from Haridwar and pass through Muzaffarnagar district. During the holy month of Shravan, many people, especially Kanwariyas, abstain from certain food items in their diet," the Muzaffarnagar police stated.

"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. To prevent such a recurrence and in view of the faith of the devotees, hotels, dhabas and shopkeepers selling food items on Kanwar Marg have been requested to voluntarily display the names of their owners and employees. The intention of this order is not to create any kind of religious discrimination but only to facilitate the devotees passing through Muzaffarnagar district, counter allegations and save the law and order situation. This system has been prevalent in the past, too", they further added.

Kanwar Yatra 2024: Politicians slam govt after police order

Interpreting the act as a move targeting the Muslim traders, the opposition parties left no stone unturned to slam the ruling BJP. While Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera called the order "state-sponsored bigotry", AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi drew a comparison with Apartheid and Judenboykott, the boycott of Jewish businesses in Germany during Hitler's reign.

"As per the order of the Uttar Pradesh Police, now every food shop or cart owner will have to put his name on the board so that no Kanwadia 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 posted on X.

Owaisi shared the video of Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Abhishek Singh on X, in which SSP said, "Preparations have begun for the kanwar yatra. In the area under our jurisdiction, which is around 240 km, all eateries, hotels, dhabas, and 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."

Besides Owaisi, Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday termed the act a "social crime" and asked the courts to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

Taking it to the social media platform X, Yadav tweeted, "... And what if the name of the owner is Guddu, Munna, Chhotu or Fatte? What can you find out from these names?"

"The honourable court should take suo motu cognizance of this matter and investigate the intentions of the government and take appropriate punitive action," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

CM Yogi Adityanath reviews Kanwar Yatra preparations 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday took a stock of the preparations for the Kanwar Yatra, which begins on July 22.

As per reports, the review meeting was attended by ministers of water, power, urban development, and energy, along with the PWD minister and state ministers.