New Delhi, Jul 19 (IANS): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday voiced her strong opposition to the "divisive" order on the labelling of food joints and kiosks along the Kanwar Yatra route in UP and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
She also demanded that strict action should be initiated against the officials who issued the controversial order on putting up a nameplate outside the eateries.
"Creating division in society on the basis of caste and religion is a crime against the Constitution. This order should be withdrawn immediately and strict action should be taken against the officials who issued it," said the Congress leader.
Taking to X, she further said that the order to showcase names of carts, kiosks and shop owners on nameplates depicts the government’s "divisive" mindset and termed it an "attack on the Constitution, democracy and the shared heritage".
Her denunciation came hours after the Uttar Pradesh government, in its order, asked all the food stalls, shops, dhabas and kiosks to display the names of owners and workers properly to avoid any ‘confusion’ for the Kanwar Yatris.
Prior to this, Muzaffarnagar police, in a verbal order, announced that all food shops and eateries would have to display the names of proprietors and the workers, along the 240-km Yatra route that falls under its ambit. The order was reportedly meant to ensure ‘purity of faith’ for the devotees along the route and forbid any possibility of adulteration and mixing of vegetarian with non-vegetarian food. Display of names would deter the mischievous elements, which was apparently the premise behind the order.
However, the Opposition didn’t see any reason for this and rather smelled a conspiracy against a particular community to boycott and outcast them.
The Congress called it a ‘state-sponsored bigotry’ while AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi equated it with the 'apartheid era' in South Africa and the 'Judenboycott' in Hitler’s Germany (the boycott of Jewish businesses). Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav went a step ahead and demanded that the courts take suo motu cognizance of the matter and take necessary action.
Notably, the Kanwar Yatra will kick-start on July 22, the day when Shravan month begins. The month-long festival will see people from Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan visiting Haridwar and Rishikesh to collect water from the Ganga river and then offer the same in Lord Shiva temples, on returning home.