UP Govt Fears Violence if Kanwariyas 'Unwittingly' Eat in 'Place Not of Their Choice'

New Delhi: The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has justified its controversial directive requiring food sellers along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names and identities of their owners and employees by saying that the idea was to ensure “transparency and informed choice” of the Kanwariyas regarding the food they eat during the pilgrimage keeping in mind their “religious sentiments”. The government’s argument, contained in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, was careful to avoid any explicit statement linked to the Kanwariyas’ alleged desire to avoid Muslim eateries but in annexures it provided photographs of three establishments owned by Muslims as examples to “demonstrate the confusion which would arise in the minds of such devotees” – thus making it clear that the state wanted clear communal identification of such establishments.

The state government affidavit is in response to petitions that oppose its labelling directive for the Kanwar Yatra. The Supreme Court on July 22, had ordered an interim stay on the decision to enforce the directives, meaning hotel and dhaba owner and other hawkers of food and drink would not be forced to display their name or identity. The matter relates to the Saharanpur division of the state, on the border with Uttarakhand.

The government said that the directives were issued keeping in mind the religious sentiments of the Kanwariyas “so that they don’t, even accidentally, fall foul of their beliefs”. It argued that the move was aimed at ensuring peace and law and order during the period of the yatra, and noted that in the past week itself, incidents of flare-ups and altercations were reported along the route of the pilgrimage over the issue of onion and garlic being served at eateries.

 “Such situations would obviously lead to flare-ups where lakhs and crores of people are walking barefoot carrying holy water. A mishap in the form of taking a meal unwittingly at a place that would have otherwise not been of their choice, could, for the Kanwaria, vitiate the entire Yatra, peace and tranquillity in the area, the maintenance of which, is the bounden duty of the state,” said the government.

The Kanwariyas follow “a strict vegetarian, satvik diet, eschewing onion, garlic and all other tamasic foods,” noted the government. It emphasised that, “Satvik food does not just mean the preparation of food without onions and garlic, but is also the manner of preparation of the food, similar to falhar during other festivals when fasting ceremonies are undertaken.”

However, it is not clear why the government chose not to come up with a certification system for ‘satvik food’ and allow conforming eateries to display such a sign, instead of insisting on the display of the names of their proprietors and employees.

Scholars have noted that there is no Hindu scripture which says food prepared by non-Hindus cannot be satvik.

To buttress its argument that the directives were issued to prevent confusion in the minds of the Kanwariyas, the government attached details of three dhabas in Muzaffarnagar owned by Muslims: Raja Ram Bhoj dhaba, Rajasthani Shudh Khalsa Dhaba and the Pandit Ji Vaishno Dhaba.

Given that the Yatra involved crores of pilgrims, “many of whom are not literate, and who are walking barefoot with religious fervour, even small confusions regarding the kind of food they are served, has the potential to hurt their religious sentiments and cause flare-ups, especially in a communally sensitive area like Muzaffarnagar,” said the state government.

The Muzaffarnagar-Shamli region witnessed deadly communal violence in September 2013.

The government claimed that the directives did not impose any discrimination based on religion, caste or community, and that they applied “uniformly to all food sellers” along the Kanwar Yatra route, irrespective of their religious or community affiliations. However, in the same document, a senior official from Saharanpur was quoted as instructing all officials of the Saharanpur administrative division (comprising Shamli, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar districts), to identify all eateries which were being run in the name of “religious/Hindu Gods-Goddesses” but their owners belonged to other communities. The directives were issued in response to complaints received from the Kanwariyas, the government submitted in the SC.

“All such food shops/restaurants/hotels on the Kanwad routes which are being run in the name of religious/Hindu Gods-Goddesses but their operators/proprietors belong to other specific sects/communities should be identified and the names of their operators should be written in big letters so that no dispute arises,” Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod, Commissioner, Saharanpur Division, instructed officials, according to the minutes of a meeting he convened on July 13. Implied in this instruction was that non-Hindus must display their names on the boards of their eateries if they were named after Hindu deities.

In its affidavit, the state government further said that the directives were aimed at ensuring public safety and order during the yatra, given the large number of participants and the potential for communal tension. “Past incidents have shown that misunderstandings regarding the type of food being sold have led to tensions and disturbances. The directives are a proactive measure to avoid such situations,” the document said.

More than 4 crore Kanwariyas participate annually in the yatra, according to the government.

The petitioners led by the NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights argued that the government’s directives violated Articles 14, 15, 17, 19 (1) (g) and 21 of the Indian constitution. These Articles deal with equality before the law, discrimination, untouchability, the right to practice any profession and protection of life and liberty. Ground reports, too, suggested that Muslim restaurant owners and hawkers felt especially harassed by the government’s imposition of the directives.

The Adityanath government countered this by saying that its directives for the “prominent disclosures of the names of the operators of the eateries and the type of food they serve,” were “certainly not discriminatory or restrictive at all.” It also stressed upon the fact that the directives were limited to the route of the Kanwar Yatra for a period of less than two weeks, from July 22 to August 6.

The “temporary nature” of the directives ensures that “they do not inflict any permanent discrimination or hardship on the food sellers, simultaneously ensuring maintaining the sentiments of Kanwariyas and their religious beliefs and practices,” the UP government said.

In its affidavit, the government also backed up its directives by referring to Regulation 2.1.1 (5) of the Food and Safety Standards (Licensing & Registration of Food Businesses (Regulations), 2011, framed under Section 92(2)(a), read with Section 31 of the Food and Safety Standards Act, 2006, which requires registration of all “petty food” businesses and mandatory disclosure of the photo ID of the owner and registration certificate at a prominent place. It, however, noted that this was lacking in most dhabas, with some even lacking registration.

At best, say legal experts, this rule – which is not enforced in others parts of UP – would mean the display of the photo ID and registration certificate at a place like the cash counter, rather than in large letters on a sign board, as the government directive said.

While arguing in court, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for UP, on Friday referred to the 2006 Act. The court extended the interim stay on the directives till August 5.