Kanwar Yatra: Congress slams ‘name display’ order to eateries as move to boycott Muslims, Dalits

New Delhi: Muzaffarnagar police’s directive to all eateries, dhabas and restaurants to display the names of owners and proprietors on their signboards prominently, along the Kanwar Yatra route has drawn condemnation from Opposition parties including the Congress, with some linking it to ‘apartheid’ in South Africa and also to policies in Nazi Germany.

Congress party spokesperson Pawan Khera on Thursday hit out at the “biased and lopsided” decision and said that such targeting of a particular community shows the government’s “ill-will” towards them and termed it “state-sponsored bigotry”.

In a video message, Pawan Khera said, “Whether this is a step towards economic boycott of Muslims or economic boycott of Dalits or both, we do not know but we won’t allow normalising of boycott of a particular community.”

The Congress leader also warned against the government’s interference in people’s food choices and said that this has gone a step ahead, as people of a certain faith are now being ‘directed’ not to buy products from people of another faith.

“India’s top major meat exporters are Hindus. Does the meat sold by Hindus become dal-bhaat? Similarly, will the mangoes and guavas sold by some Altaf or Rashid become meat?” he asked while listing name of some noted meat exporters.

Further, justifying the branding of non-vegetarian outlets as Halal meat shops, he said that such labelling helps any individual to decide, according to their food choices.

However, labelling of any dhaba in the name of the owner will only create rift and division in society, he added.

Notably, Muzaffarnagar police recently issued a directive to all dhabas, restaurants and eateries along the 240-km Kanwar Yatra route to display names of the owners and proprietors prominently, to avoid any ‘confusion’ for the yatris.

This prompted a volley of reactions from Opposition parties, who saw it a divisive move and stated that it will only vitiate the peaceful atmosphere.