The UP state government and local administrations have started to heighten security measures to ensure the smooth and hassle-free completion of the Kanwar Yatra. This year the Kanwar Yatra will start on 22nd July and conclude on 2nd August. In the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, the local administration has issued an order asking hotels, dhabas, and carts selling food items to write the name of their proprietors and operators running the shop or cart. However, alleged fact-checker Mohd Zubair, AIMIM Chief Asaddudin Owaisi, and Islamists have started to cry hoarse alleging religious discrimination.
Notably, the Muzaffarnagar SSP addressed the media where he shared information about the administration’s decision. Speaking to media channels, SSP Abhishek Singh said that dhabas, hotels, eateries, and carts selling food items that fall on the Kanwar Yatra mark have been asked to write the names of proprietors and operators. He added that this could avoid confusion for the Kanwariyas and avert arguments or confrontations as well as avoid any untoward incident. He added that eateries have started to follow the order out of their volition.
मुजफ्फरनगर में कावड़ यात्रा को लेकर बड़ा फैसला
— News18 Uttarakhand (@News18_UK) July 17, 2024
यात्रा मार्ग पर दुकान मालिकों को दुकान पर लिखना होगा अपना नाम…#Mujaffarnagar #KavarYatra pic.twitter.com/ogitt2TmdZ
Breaking News | कांवड़ यात्रा पर मुजफ्फरनगर पुलिस का आदेश, यात्रा के रूट में पड़ने वाले सभी होटल-ढाबे-ठेले वाले लिखें मालिक का नाम#UttarPradesh #KanwarYatra #Muzaffarnagar #MuzaffarnagarPolice #UPNews
— Zee News (@ZeeNews) July 17, 2024
मुजफ्फरनगर पुलिस का कांवड़ यात्रा पर बड़ा ऐलान, पुलिस ने कांवड़ यात्रा पर… pic.twitter.com/OClqfLokki
However, the SSP added, “Kanwariyas can buy goods from anywhere.”
In line with the administration’s orders, many cart sellers and eateries in the region have started to display names on banners or paper boards. Police personnel from police stations like Nai Mandi, Chhapar, Purkaji, Mansoorpur, and Khatauli have started to enforce the order. In the city area, many eateries near Meenakshi Chowk have started to put up posters with their names written on them.
दिल्ली से हरिद्वार के बीच कांवड़ यात्रा मार्ग पर पड़ने वाले होटल-ढाबा और रेहड़ी संचालकों ने अपने नाम के बोर्ड लगाने शुरू कर दिए हैं। शुरुआत मुजफ्फरनगर से हो गई है।
— Sachin Gupta (@SachinGuptaUP) July 17, 2024
दरअसल, स्वामी यशवीर महाराज ने कहा था कि बड़ी संख्या में मुस्लिम लोग अपनी पहचान छिपाकर हिन्दू नाम से होटल-ढाबे चला… pic.twitter.com/KoAjNr82yS
It is pertinent to note that the administration’s order comes in the wake of the allegations that many Muslim eatery owners put up posters with false Hindu names which have often created concerns for vegetarians and led to scuffles over the issue of deceiving customers or hurting the sentiments of the Kanwariyas.
Last year during the Kanwar Yatra as well as days ahead of this year’s yatra, Swami Yashveer Maharaj made serious allegations that a large number of Muslim eatery owners hid their identity and displayed posters with fake Hindu names.
He said that they have dotted the routes of the Kanwar Yatra. Given this, Swami Yashveer Maharaj demanded that the administration should ask eatery owners to display the names of their owners or operators.
He said, “Some people from a particular community operate shops during the Kanwar fair by putting up boards with the names of Hindu deities, due to which there is a possibility of hurting the sentiments of Shiva devotee Kanwariyas. The identity of people from a particular community operating shops by putting up boards with the names of Hindu deities should be made public. The police should run a campaign for this.”
He also warned that if the administration doesn’t take action in this matter within a week, they will organise protests and agitations.
Islamists crying hoarse over the issue
The administration’s orders come in the wake of allegations that certain Muslim shop owners were deceiving and hurting the sentiments of Kanwariyas by using fake Hindu names and serving fast non-compliant food in the holy month. According to the administration, this has been done to avoid confrontation and avert any untoward incident that could create a law and order situation. However, Islamists have started to cry hoarse alleging that displaying the name of the shop/cart owner is “religious discrimination”.
Mohammed Zubair, who describes himself as a ‘fact-checker’ but often indulges in selective ‘fact-checking’ to push the left’s agenda, described the order asking vendors and shop owners to maintain transparency and display their names on their shop as ‘dangerous’ and whipped up hysteria claiming such a move had a potential of ‘discrimination on the grounds of religion’.
AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi went further and equated it with South Africa’s “apartheid” and Germany’s “Judenboycott”.
Several other X users also alleged discrimination and equated it to Nazism.
Dear Hindus! This is the Nazi model, tell me If we adopt this model in & around the Muslim localities too?
— Samiullah Khan (@_SamiullahKhan) July 17, 2024
" In UP's Muzaffarnagar, police ordered hotels and vendors falling on the route of Kanwar Yatra to display the names of the owners in front of their shops" aiming to… pic.twitter.com/rPFZElA8FU
However, their outrage over the administration’s order to simply put the names of the street vendors and the hotel owners on their board betrays an unwitting admission that many mask their real identities by using deceptive names for their shops. One can only guess the real reason why street vendors and hotel owners would want to keep their identities hidden from their customers.
Nonetheless, the SSP categorically noted that the Kanwariyas can buy goods from anywhere. It only ensures that the Kanwariyas who may have an inclined propensity to search for their dietary intake-compliant eatery in the holy month, don’t fall prey to miscreants owners who put banners showing images of Hindu deities but are being run by Muslims who don’t adhere and respect to their dietary compliance.
Ironically, alleged fact-checker, AIMIM Chief, and Islamists who defend communal certification like Halal tooth and nail despite it being religious discriminatory by the agency of preferring only Muslim slaughterers are arguing against and alleging that if fasting Kanwars prefer to dine or have food items from Hindu sellers, it is religious discrimination.
Halal Certification and Halal economy
For a meat product to be halal, the animal must be slaughtered only by a Muslim. To achieve economies of scale, the meat industry ends up operating large-scale abattoirs to produce all their meat. They end up using only Muslims at these abattoirs as it has simply become cheaper to produce all their meat together, instead of running separate abattoirs for halal and non-halal meat. In such a scenario, many Hindu communities, especially some Dalits, who were traditionally butchers, miss out on employment opportunities in the sector. Considering the meat industry is worth several billion dollars, this is a huge sector where only people from one religion are finding jobs because of halal policies. Click here, to read reasons why the Halal economy has to be restricted.
Most businesses have started serving only halal meat now to save the cost of maintaining 2 supply chains, for halal and non-halal meat. People who may not be comfortable with halal meat, or people with religions where only jhatka meat is allowed, no longer have any choice in the matter. If they are ordering meat at a restaurant, they get halal only by default.
Islamists who conveniently turn a blind eye to the blatant religious discrimination through halal certification go hammer and tongs shouting and screaming ‘discrimination’ when it does not even exist, like in the current case where the administration has merely asked shop owners to display their names and allowed Kanwars to make informed choices for their food preferences. The possible cause for this hyperventilation among the usual suspects is not the imagined ‘discrimination’ but the likelihood of fostering a satvik economy that could be institutionalised to challenge the hegemony of the halal economy.
