UP: Muzaffarnagar Police's Directive to Display Shopkeeper Names Along Kanwar Yatra Route Sparks Row: What Akhilesh Yadav, Javed Akhtar said?

Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, has voiced his criticism over a directive issued by the Muzaffarnagar Police, which mandates that the names of shopkeepers be prominently displayed on food shops along the Kanwar Yatra route.  The district has 240 kilometers of Kanwar routes.

The Uttar Pradesh Police in Muzaffarnagar have directed eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of their owners or proprietors to prevent confusion among the yatris.

“Preparations have begun for the Kanwar Yatra. In the area under our jurisdiction, which is around 240 km, all eateries – hotels, dhabas, and thelas (roadside carts) – have been instructed to display the names of their proprietors or those running the shop,” stated Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Abhishek Singh, during a media briefing on Tuesday. 

The SSP said, “This is being done to ensure that there’s no confusion among the Kanwariyas and no allegations are raised in the future, leading to a law and order situation. Everyone is following this of their own free will.”

But after a row erupted over this directive by the police, Muzaffarnagar Police on Thursday said that they have urged all the eateries to “voluntarily display” the names of their owners and employees.

In a tweet, Yadav questioned the rationale behind the directive, asking, "What will be known from the name of the person whose name is Guddu, Munna, Chhotu ?" 

Yadav called for judicial intervention, urging the court to investigate the government's intentions and take punitive action. He stated, “The honorable court should take cognizance itself and investigate the intention of the government behind such administration and take appropriate punitive action. Such orders are social crimes, which want to spoil the peaceful atmosphere of harmony.”

Javed Akhtar draws Hitler parallel

Famous lyricist Javed Akhtar also criticized the directive, likening it to the discriminatory practices of Nazi Germany. Akhtar commented on social media, "Muzaffarnagar Police of Uttar Pradesh has said that the names of the owners of shops, hotels and even vehicles on the route of a particular Yatra should be clearly written, why? In Nazi Germany, a mark was put on special shops and houses."

AIMIM chief Asaddudin Owaisi also slammed the UP Police and likened the significant move to “apartheid” in South Africa and “judenboycott” in Hitler’s Germany.

“As per the order of Uttar Pradesh Police, now every food shop or cart owner will have to put his name on the board so that no Kanwariya buys anything from a Muslim shop by mistake. This was called Apartheid in South Africa and in Hitler’s Germany it was called ‘Judenboycott’,” Owaisi said in a post on X.

However, the officials have maintained that the intention of this order was not to create any kind of “religious discrimination” but only to facilitate the devotees.

“In the past, such instances have come to light where some shopkeepers selling all types of food items on Kanwar Marg named their shops in such a way that it created confusion among the Kanwariyas and created a law and order situation,” officials added.