Despite facing criticism from the Opposition, while the Uttar Pradesh government has doubled down and directed all eateries including dhabas, hotels and other shops that sell food along the Kanwar Yatra route across the state to display nameplates of their owners, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now being criticised by its own allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
While allies including the Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) from Bihar and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh have voiced their criticism, former BJP MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who had earlier denounced the move has subsequently changed his opinion.
Authorities in Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur had first issued such orders on July 18, to prevent “confusion” among devotees.
The order had received widespread criticism from the opposition, with multiple parties speaking out against the move, that many have said enables the economic boycott of Muslims. But despite the criticism, the Uttar Pradesh government extended the directive across the state on Friday following instructions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Criticism for the orders to display nameplates first came in from the BJP’s ally in Bihar- the JD(U) on July 18.
The JD(U) is a key ally for the BJP in parliament after the saffron party fell short of a majority on its own in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning 240 seats. It has had to rely on its NDA allies to form the government. Both the JD(U) which has 12 Lok Sabha seats and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which has 16 seats are crucial allies for the BJP-led NDA government.
“A Kanwar Yatra bigger than this (in UP) takes place in Bihar. No such order is in effect there,” said JD(U) political advisor and national spokesperson K.C. Tyagi to ANI.
“These prohibitions that have been imposed are in violation of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ that the PM speaks of…The order is not in effect in Bihar, in Rajasthan, in Jharkhand. It would be good if it is reviewed,” he added.
The next day, the BJP’s other ally in Bihar union minister and LJP chief Chirag Paswan on Friday (July 19) said that he does not support the move.
“We need to bridge the gap between these two classes of people. It is every government’s responsibility to work for the poor, which includes all sections of society such as Dalits, backwards, upper castes and Muslims as well. All are there. We need to work for them,” Paswan said to news agency Press Trust of India.
“Whenever there is such divide in the name of caste or religion, I absolutely do not either support it or encourage it. I do not think any educated young person of my age, irrespective of the caste or religion they come from, is affected by such things,” Paswan added.
Not just in Bihar, the BJP’s ally in Uttar Pradesh has also criticised such orders.
“The Uttar Pradesh administration’s order to shopkeepers to write their name and religion on their shops is a step that promotes caste and communalism. The administration should take it back. This is an unconstitutional decision,” said RLD president Ramashish Rai on X.
In a separate post he wrote that the state administration should withdraw the order.
“The administration’s instruction to shopkeepers to write their names on their shops is inappropriate and should be withdrawn by the administration.”
Meanwhile police in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar have subsequently also issued similar orders. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has backed the move in the interest of “transparency.”
“It’s a good decision. Why would anyone hide their identity. The decision aims to create transparency and is not targeting particular community or individual. This is a verification not targeting any individual. If someone is working legitima, why would they use a fake name? This could be to mislead others. Uttarakhand has always been a peaceful state, and transparency is crucial,” he was quoted as saying by Times of India.
Former union minister for minority affairs and BJP MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who had earlier criticised the order however changed his opinion in a day.
The hasty orders of some over-zealous officials may give rise to the disease of untouchability… Faith must be respected, but untouchability must not be patronised,” he wrote on X.
A day later he said that communal confusion had been created due to an administrative decision.
“Confusion had erupted, on the basis of a limited administrative guideline. I am happy that the state Government has clarified all communal confusion. As far as devotion, respect and safety of Kanwar Yatra is concerned, nobody has any objection to it. Nobody should make any attempts to create communal confusion on matters like this. This kind of communal confusion is not good for a community or the country,” he said on July 19.
However, earlier this month Muzaffarnagar’s BJP MLA Kapil Dev Aggarwal said Muslims must not name their shops after Hindu deities during the yatra because “when devotees [kanwariyas] come to know [that the shops they eat at are run by Muslims], it causes controversy,” the Times of India reported.
Earlier this year, Adityanath prohibited the sale and purchase of meat in the open along routes for the kanwar yatra in the state this year as a mark of ‘respect’ for devotees.
Hindu pilgrims undertake the kanwar yatra around this time of year, travelling by foot to Uttarakhand to collect water from the Ganga river. They then offer the water in Shiva temples. This year the Kanwar Yatra will start on Monday (July 22).
