The row over the directive by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names escalated as the BJP’s ally RLD on Sunday joined the chorus for its withdrawal and the opposition parties stated they will raise the issue in Parliament.The issue has also reached the Supreme Court which is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea filed by an NGO – Association of Protection of Civil Rights – against the UP government order.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra too moved the apex court against the orders, alleging they are aimed at creating a socially enforced economic boycott of Muslim shopowners and workers and would aggravate communal discord between communities.
Extensive arrangements have been made across several states for the Kanwar Yatra that starts on Monday with the beginning of the Sawan month of the Hindu calendar during which lakhs of Shiva devotees carry the holy water from the Ganges in Haridwar and offer it at Shivlings on their way.
The opposition has alleged that the order on eateries is “communal and divisive” and intended to target Muslims and Scheduled Castes by forcing them to reveal their identity. But the BJP maintained that the step has been taken keeping in mind law and order issues and the religious sentiments of pilgrims.
At an all-party meeting on Sunday on the eve of the Parliament session, several opposition parties, including the Congress, DMK, SP and AAP, criticised the order and made it clear that they would raise the issue in the two Houses. They demanded that the government should allow a discussion on it in Parliament.