In the backdrop of the Muzaffarnagar police's order asking eateries on the Kanwar yatra route to display their owners' names, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday said it may spread the 'disease of untouchability'.
In an apparent reference to the orders, Naqvi said on X, 'Kuch ati-utsahi adhikariyon ke aadesh hadbadi mein gadbadi wali... asprishyata ki bimari ko badhawa de sakte hain... astha ka samman hona chahiye, par asprishyata ka sanrakshan nahi hona chahiye (the hasty orders of some overzealous officials may spread the disease of untouchability...Faith must be respected, but untouchability must not be encouraged).'
In another post, Naqvi also hit out at some online trolls for his earlier post.
'Don't give me a certificate of respect and devotion for Kanwar Yatra, I always believe that 'no faith should be hostage to intolerance and untouchability',' Naqvi said in Hindi on X.
He also posted a throwback picture of him participating in Kanwar yatra.
However, the BJP, whose government is in power in Uttar Pradesh, defended the Muzaffarnagar police order to all eateries and carts selling eatables to display their names, saying it allows fasting Hindus who may want to eat at a pure vegetarian restaurant, where the likelihood of them being served Satvik food is higher, a choice.
Muzaffarnagar Police chief Abhishek Singh earlier on Monday said, "Preparations of Sawan month have started in the district. 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."
"This has been done to ensure that there should be no confusion among kanwariyas and no law and order situation arises. All are following this voluntarily," he told reporters.
Akhilesh, Mayawati slam order
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said Thursday the Muzaffarnagar police order is a 'social crime', and appealed to courts to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati also hit out at the order and asked for it to be withdrawn.
Reacting to a news article on the order, Yadav, a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, wrote on 'X', '... And what if the name of the owner is Guddu, Munna, Chhotu or Fatte? What can you find out from these names?'
'Court should take suo motu cognisance of the matter, investigate the intentions of the government and take appropriate punitive action,' he said in the post in Hindi.
'Such an order is a social crime aimed at spoiling harmony...,' Yadav added.
Hitting out at the order, Mayawati posted in Hindi on 'X', 'The new government order for all the hotels, dhabas, carts, shopkeepers etc. on the Kanwar Yatra route in western Uttar Pradesh and Muzaffarnagar district to prominently display the full name of the owners is a wrong tradition which can spoil harmony. The government should immediately withdraw it in the public interest.'
The decision has drawn flak from several quarters, including politicians and members of the civil society.
