After drawing fire from various quarters, including politicians, over display of owners’ names over the eateries enroute Kanwar Yatra, the Muzzaffarnagar Police on Thursday issued fresh advisory making it a “voluntary” measure to put a board of names of their owners.

The Muzaffarnagar Police said its intention was not to create any kind of religious discrimination but only to facilitate the devotees passing through Muzaffarnagar district and prevent any untoward situation. “During the holy month of Shravan, many people, especially Kanwariyas, abstain from certain food items in their diet,” the Muzaffarnagar Police stated through its social media posts.

“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, hotels, dhabas and shopkeepers selling food items on Kanwar Marg have been requested to voluntarily display the names of their owners and employees... This system has been prevalent in the past, too,” the advisory further said.

The fresh advisory came after the administration’s earlier order asking eateries, including roadside carts, to display the names of the owners in front of their shops faced severe criticism. Police personnel had also started to enforce the order.

Muzaffarnagar police chief Abhishek Singh on Monday said, “About 240 km of Kanwar Yatra route falls in the district. All the eateries, including hotels, dhabas and carts, on the route, have been asked to display the names of their proprietors or those working on these shops.”

Not only from the opponents, the BJP ruled Uttar Pradesh government also received a drubbing from its NDA allies like Janata Dal (United) which demanded immediate withdrawal of such a discriminatory order which could cause communal tension.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the Muzaffarnagar police’s order asking eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names is a “social crime” and asked the courts to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

Slamming the Uttar Pradesh police, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi likened the move to “apartheid” in South Africa and “Judenboycott” in Hitler’s Germany.

“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 Kanwariya buys anything from a Muslim shop by mistake,” Owaisi tweeted.

Congress also slammed as “an assault on India’s culture”. Hitting out at the BJP-RSS, the Congress also said the intention of such an order was to normalise economic boycott of Muslims. Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the intention behind this is to find out who is a Hindu and who is a Muslim. Pioneer News Service n New Delhi/Muzzafarnagar

After drawing fire from various quarters, including politicians, over display of owners’ names over the eateries enroute Kanwar Yatra, the Muzzaffarnagar Police on Thursday issued fresh advisory making it a “voluntary” measure to put a board of names of their owners.

The Muzaffarnagar Police said its intention was not to create any kind of religious discrimination but only to facilitate the devotees passing through Muzaffarnagar district and prevent any untoward situation. “During the holy month of Shravan, many people, especially Kanwariyas, abstain from certain food items in their diet,” the Muzaffarnagar Police stated through its social media posts.

“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, hotels, dhabas and shopkeepers selling food items on Kanwar Marg have been requested to voluntarily display the names of their owners and employees... This system has been prevalent in the past, too,” the advisory further said.

The fresh advisory came after the administration’s earlier order asking eateries, including roadside carts, to display the names of the owners in front of their shops faced severe criticism. Police personnel had also started to enforce the order.

Muzaffarnagar police chief Abhishek Singh on Monday said, “About 240 km of Kanwar Yatra route falls in the district. All the eateries, including hotels, dhabas and carts, on the route, have been asked to display the names of their proprietors or those working on these shops.”

Not only from the opponents, the BJP ruled Uttar Pradesh government also received a drubbing from its NDA allies like Janata Dal (United) which demanded immediate withdrawal of such a discriminatory order which could cause communal tension.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the Muzaffarnagar police’s order asking eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names is a “social crime” and asked the courts to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

Slamming the Uttar Pradesh police, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi likened the move to “apartheid” in South Africa and “Judenboycott” in Hitler’s Germany.

“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 Kanwariya buys anything from a Muslim shop by mistake,” Owaisi tweeted.

Congress also slammed as “an assault on India’s culture”. Hitting out at the BJP-RSS, the Congress also said the intention of such an order was to normalise economic boycott of Muslims. Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the intention behind this is to find out who is a Hindu and who is a Muslim.