New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday flayed the opposition parties for raising objection to the Uttar Pradesh Police asking eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route in Muzaffarnagar to display their owners’ names and said it was necessary to protect the faith of Hindus.
The VHP’s reaction came after the Congress slammed the Muzaffarnagar Police order as “an assault on India’s culture” and alleged the intention behind such an order was to “normalise” economic boycott of the Muslims.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi termed the order “a clear-cut discriminatory” and alleged it shows the Yogi Adityanath government wants to make Muslims “second-grade citizens” in Uttar Pradesh and the entire country.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav termed the order a “social crime” and asked the courts to take suo-motu cognisance of the matter.
Hitting back, VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said, “I want to give ‘sadhuvaad’ to the Uttar Pradesh government and police which compelled people (owners of the eatires) to disclose their names and identities. It is unfortunate that some opposition parties are trying to protect those who hoodwink devotees.” He said such an order was “very necessary for the protection of Hindu society and its faith” as there have been incidents when “some people” spat in the eatabled before selling them to the customers.
“Who doesn’t know that some people are selling eatables spitting on them…Such practices must be stopped,” Bansal said and urged the opposition parties to not stand by such people.
The VHP spokesperson said nobody will have any objection if the “shopkeepers” do their business disclosing their identity and names.
“What do you (shopkeepers) want to do by concealing your identity?” he asked.
Muzaffarnagar Police recently ordered all eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of owners to avoid any “confusion”.
This came days after the VHP claimed that Muslims were selling puja items at various Hindu pilgrimage sites by “concealing” their identity and urged all the state governments to take effective steps to prevent them from running such shops “so that the faith of Hindus is not hurt”.
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. PTI PK AS AS
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