The Congress Monday welcomed the Supreme Court stay on Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments’ orders asking eateries on the Kanwar Yatra routes to display the owners’ names, and said the party hopes Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes BJP chief ministers aware of their “raj dharma”.
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an interim stay on the directives issued by the two BJP-ruled states. They had asked 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.
Reacting to the development, Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, “We welcome the stay given by the Supreme Court on the completely unconstitutional orders by the Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments wherein they have asked all shopkeepers, eateries and street vendors to put their name and identity on boards outside, especially during the Kanwar Yatra. This was unconstitutional and the Congress along with the entire opposition opposed it.”
“We are very happy that the Supreme Court has given such a strong order and we hope that the prime minister makes his chief ministers aware of their ‘raj dharma (solemn duty)’. Unfortunately, he is the same PM, who when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked him to follow ‘raj dharma’ but he defied Atal ji,” Khera said in his video statement.
“We hope his CMs don’t defy him. Although the prime minister’s position in his party is considerably weakened, we hope he retrieves that position and asserts himself and stops his chief ministers from indulging in such unconstitutional measures,” he said.
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.
The opposition has alleged that the orders were “communal and divisive” and intended to target Muslims and Scheduled Castes by forcing them to reveal their identity, but the BJP maintained that the step has been taken keeping in mind law and order issues and the religious sentiments of pilgrims.
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