Kawad Yatra: UP Police Order for Food Outlet Owners to Display Their Names Stirs Controversy
In view of Kawad Yatra passing through Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh [UP] Police ordered all food outlets and eateries in the city to “voluntarily display” the names of the owners of these outlets. As per today top 10 news in Hindi, this order has caused a controversy among sections of political Muslims as well as left wing politicians, who are more annoyed than many Muslims. Some leading media outlets have tried to hype up the issue by claiming that there is a “massive backlash” against this order by the UP Police, which is obviously not true.
This is precisely the kind of motivated and agenda-driven “journalism” if we may call it so, that is the root cause of many of the socio-religious problems that arise in different parts of the country.
Now, what exactly is this “massive backlash” that these reports are talking about? A statement in reaction by a Muslim leader known for his low-level polarization politics and another statement by a leftist leader, known for pandering to extremist Muslim clergy politicians.
As per latest India news in Hindi, when such misleading headlines like “massive backlash” against the UP Police order failed to create any newsworthy trouble on the streets, these media outlets have toned down their hyperbole.
Now, it is a more subtle and normal-sounding “politics has heated up in UP” because of this order. Well, politics in UP is always on heat; nothing unusual about it.
Devoted Hindu pilgrims want pure vegetarian food during Kawad Yatra
The Kawad Yatra is a very hard and difficult pilgrimage undertaken by Hindu youngsters, who carry the water of the River Ganga from Gangotri, the origin point of the river, to offer to Lord Shiva in Haridwar.
In northern India, the Kawad Yatra ends at either Neelkanth Mahadev Temple in Rishikesh or the Pura Mahadeva Temple in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh according to today top 10 news in Hindi.
The Yatris or pilgrims want to have pure vegetarian food that is cooked and served in an environment where non-vegetarian food is not cooked or served.
In Muzaffarnagar and other areas of Western UP, many of the dhabas and restaurants on the Kawad routes are named after Hindu deities but are owned by Muslims.
If these eateries serve pure vegetarian food only, that would still be okay but they also serve non-vegetarian food simultaneously and this is a serious problem for a Kawad Yatri.
Opposition trying to create an unnecessary storm over a tea cup
A state BJP leader from UP said that an unnecessary controversy is being created by certain Muslim political leaders and their leftist allies from the Hindu community over the special order by UP Police as per latest India news in Hindi.
A Kawad Yatri who enters a restaurant or dhaba named after a Hindu deity, orders his food and then while he is having the food realizes that the eatery also serves non-vegetarian food, would feel cheated.
He will feel that this tough and gruelling trek that he has undertaken from Gangotri would lose its meaning if the food he has eaten is cooked in the same kitchen where non-vegetarian food is also cooked.
If the UP Police had not made such an order, what would have been the option for Kawad Yatris to determine an eatery is pure vegetarian in a place where Muslim-owned shops are named after Hindu deities? Should they ask the name of the eatery owner first? That would spark trouble faster than any other interaction.
The opposition politicians are not willing to understand what is going through the mind of the Kawar yatri facing such a choice. They are obsessed with what the Muslims are going to feel; would they feel like they are being targeted for a boycott by Hindus? That seems to be the only concern of these leftists. One left wing journalist known for his crooked ways, has tweeted as much and even showed the picture of a Muslim fruit vendor displaying his name on his cart. It appears that the Muslim shop owners on the Kawad route understand the sensitivity of the matter much better than these opposition political leaders and are not making any issue of it.
AUTHOR: Dev Kumar is an independent geo-political observer, commentator and blogger who tries to look at international issues in relation to India and present a different dimension that has hardly been covered by mainstream experts.
