Muzaffarnagar: In the wake of the police order, directing shops and eateries along the route of the Kanwar Yatra to display the names of the owners, which was later modified to include the “voluntary” element, Muslim owners in Muzaffarnagar are complying but unwillingly.
Mohammad Hasan, a sheermal seller with a roadside shop in the Khalapar market, says, “This is the first time that people are being asked to display their names for their shops to be identified.”
“Hindus and Muslims buy goods from each other’s shops. One is incomplete without the other. But this government order has only one purpose — to separate brother from brother,” the 68-year-old adds.
“Even after installing nameplates… if customers come, how will you stop them? We did not oppose the administration’s order. We did as they said,” Hasan argues.
Dozens of shopkeepers in the Khalapar market have installed name plates on their shops. Even fruit vendors have written their names on their carts and stalls.
Arif, a mango seller, stands next to his cart with a white board attached to it, which reads “Arif fal” in Hindi. “A few days ago, the police came and told us to write our names on our carts,” he tells ThePrint.
Arif has been selling fruits for about 10 years. “Such a thing has never been said before. We have been told to put up name plates for the Kanwar Yatra and remove them after the Yatra,” he says.
The Kanwar Yatra is set to commence on 22 July, and the eateries selling non-vegetarian food in Muzaffarnagar have begun shutting down.
A statement from the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Office has said, “’Nameplate’ will have to be put on the food shops on the Kanwar routes across UP. The decision was taken to maintain the purity of the faith of Kanwar pilgrims. Action will also be taken against those selling products with Halal certification.”
Muslim shopkeepers claim that the police administration pressured them to display their names.
Shahid, who has run a tea stall on the Kanwar Yatra route for decades, says, “There is already a board with my father’s name on the shop, but the administration still asked us to put up a new board. We are portraying ourselves as the government wants.”
He adds, “We serve the Kanwariyas every year. They stop at our shop and call me Shahid Bhai. We have never discriminated against them.”
“Names have also been written on fruit carts. No one is making the fruit, it comes from the tree. But Muslims are forced to write their names even on them,” Shahid remarks, adding that despite being “wrong”, the administration’s decision has to be accepted.
Following Muzaffarnagar’s example, the police in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, have announced similar steps.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Pramod Doval, told media Friday that Haridwar Police is insisting on verifying the name and QR code of the owner of all the shops, restaurants, dhabas and hawkers on the route of the Kanwar Yatra and writing it. “If anyone does not follow this, legal action will be taken against him,” he said.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, in a post on X, called the directive “unconstitutional”. “The attempt to boycott people of a particular religion economically in this manner is highly condemnable,” she wrote.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)