SC slams the brakes on BJP’s name display order

Kanwariyas walk past a shop on which banners with shopkeeper’s name was put up on Kanwar Marg. Pic/PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an interim stay on the directives issued by BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand asking eatery owners along the Kanwar Yatra routes to display the names of their owners, the staff and other details, a move the opposition has claimed is intended to promote religious discrimination.

Issuing notice to the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, where the Ujjain municipal body has issued a similar directive, a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti, however, said eateries may be required to display the kind of food they are serving like they are vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

A large number of devotees travel from various places with 'kanwars' carrying holy water from the Ganga to perform 'jalabhishek' of Shivlings during the Hindu calendar month of 'Shravan'. Many believers shun consuming meat during the month they consider holy. The significant order comes amid an escalating row over the directives, with even BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) joining the chorus for their withdrawal and opposition parties resolving to raise the issue in Parliament.

Kanwariyas vandalise car, thrash occupants

A car was vandalised and its occupants thrashed by ‘kanwariyas' who claimed that it had brushed against them here on the Haridwar-Delhi national highway, police said Monday on the first day of the annual kanwar yatra. The group of devotees claimed that a ‘kanwar' belonging to one of them had been rendered impure because the car had touched it near the Bajheri cut under the Chhapar area of the district late Sunday. A police officer, however, said no kanwariya came forward to confirm whether his kanwar came in contact with the car.

MP govt: No name display mandate

The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has clarified that it has not issued any instructions requiring shop owners to display their names along the Kanwar Yatra route in the state, and there is no such compulsion. Amidst a row in Uttar Pradesh over a directive to highlight shop owners' names on eateries along the Yatra route, the MP government has asked urban bodies to refrain from spreading any confusion.

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