Vendors on Kanwar Yatra route: Authorities talk of going soft, but compliance begins on ground
All that changed just days before the Kanwar Yatra in view of the police directive for displaying the names of owners of eateries, shops and carts on the Kanwar Yatra routes in West U.P. districts
Mohd Hakim has been selling fruits near the Muslim dominated area of Meenakshi Chowk here for over a decade. In all these years, seldom has a policeman approached him and ordered him to display his name on his fruit cart.
But all that changed just days before the Kanwar Yatra in view of the police directive for displaying the names of owners of eateries, shops and carts on the Kanwar Yatra routes in West U.P. districts. The police later soften their stand and said the order was for voluntary compliance.
In the meantime, Hakim complied with the order, wrote his name on a white sheet of paper, pasted it on a square cardboard and hung it on his cart.
A few later, policemen came to ensure compliance with the order and walked past his cart, smiling at him.
A few metres away, another fruit vendor Nasir had displayed his name “Nasir Phal Wala” and said the police directed him to do it.
He has been selling fruits for over 20 years now. Both fruit vendors claim that they have come across “such an order for the first time.”
The policemen’s smiles were not for everyone, it seems. Many Muslim vendors claimed that they were harassed by police over a delay in putting the display board of their names on shops and carts.
A young tea seller Mohd Asif at Bhangela village said he was kept in police custody for over an hour because he delayed putting up the display board with his name.
“I was allowed to go only after Khatauli thana police received a call from an MP’s son,” Asif claimed.
A few metres away, the main entrance of the Shiva Tourist Dhaba’ on National Highway-58 displays a big picture of Lord Shiva. The names of staff members have been displayed on the rear wall of the reception, which carries names of both Hindu’s and Muslims.
Employees Sonu and Pradeep said the dhaba owner is Somi, a Muslim.
They claimed that the police visited the dhaba a few days ago and directed to change its name and took the owner to the police station.
“He was released after a few hours and since then he didn’t come to the dhaba,” they said.
Another eatery with a similar name, Shiva Dhaba, is nearby. The owner Pawan Kumar said he fired his only Muslim employee after the police approached him and advised him to get rid of the Muslim worker during the Kanwar Yatra.
Maulana Nazar, state vice president of the Jamiat Ulama- i-Hind, asked, “Would officials dare to issue similar order during Ramzan?”
Condemning the order, he said, “It was issued under the pressure of the state government and those involved in divisive politics.”
Sanjeev Mittal, zonal president of the Akhilesh Bhartiya Udyog Vyaapar Mandal, supported the order and said it’s only for a brief period of Kanwar Yatra with an objective to avoid any untoward incident during the Yatra.
Hazi Asif Rahi, who formed Paigam- e- Insaniyat organisation after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar and Shamli riots, said there are thousands of fruit vendors, small shopkeepers along with hotels, dhabas and eateries which have been directed to display names of properties and staff working there.
“It’s wrong. It will widen the gap between two communities and (is) also (in) violation of our Constitution,” said Rahi, who works for fostering harmony.
For 15 years, Rahi and his team organised a Kanwar camp.
“We used to provide the passerby kanwariyas a comfortable stay, fruits and food,” said Rahi but added that he stopped organising the camp for the past two years, attributing his decision to campaign by Swami Yashveer Maharaj who runs the Yog Sadhna Ashram in Baghra town of the district. Yashveer has been vocal against Muslim owners who run dhabas and hotels with Hindu names or in the name of Hindu gods and godesses on Kanwar Yatra routes.
His movement is said to have culminated in the administration and police issuing the “display order” ahead of the Kanwar Yatra this year.
Speaking to HT, Yashveer extended his gratitude to the police and administration for the order.
“The right decision taken by the officials for protecting Hindu sentiments,” he said.
He said he came to know last year that many Muslims ran their dhabas, hotels and eateries using the names of Hindu gods, which was unacceptable.
He started a campaign against it and staged a sit-in 20 days ago.
“I had a discussion with officials on the issue and they assured (me) of conducting an investigation,” he said/
Lakhs of kanwariyas take different routes to reach their destinations in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi after fetching Gangajal from Haridwar, Rishikesh and other places.
National Highway 58, which connects Delhi to Haridwar, is major route for these kanwariyas though they also use other national highways and link roads to reach their native places before Shravan Shivratri, falling on August 2 this year.
Muzaffarnagar senior superintendent of police Abhishek Singh said, “The objective behind the order was to quell doubts of kanwariyas about the ownership of eateries because misleading information sometimes causes allegations and counter allegations and may lead a threat to law and order.” He hastened to add it was a voluntary appeal to owners of eateries, shops and food carts.
Newly elected Muzaffarnagar MP Harendra Malik of the Samajwadi Party described the order as “unconstitutional, which promotes hatred”.
“The administration and the government should restrain themselves from getting involved in such acts”, he said and claimed than majority of workers in eateries are Muslims and the order will adversely affect them.
A senior police officer said the order was issued in Muzaffarnagar because the yatra covers a major route here. Muzaffarnagar district has seven Kanwar Yatra routes, covering 240 kilometres.
Asked about peoples’ representatives describing it as a violation of the constitution he said, “It’s a larger issue and I can’t comment on it. If it’s so, it should be discussed and addressed in an appropriate platform.”