Communal Profiling Of Muslim Vendors Made Official In UP

Even though the Lok Sabha election is over and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formed a government with help from allies, it still cannot get over the fact that it could not get a majority on its own. The backlash against Muslims, which the party had started during campaigning, continues unabated.

The BJP’s Muslim bashing plunged to unprecedented lows on July 17, 2024 with the Uttar Pradesh administration, in a brazen move of communal profiling, issuing orders to all hotel, eatery and thela owners in Muzaffarnagar district to display their real names on their shops so that the Hindu ‘Kanwariya’ pilgrims don’t buy eatables from Muslims.

The order, which was issued by the Muzaffarnagar administration on July 17, made it compulsory for all those selling eatables in Muzaffarnaggar district to display their correct names, which would clearly indicate their religion so that ‘Kanwariyas’ don’t get confused. ‘Kanwariyas’ are devotees who walk to Haridwar, Rishikesh or Gangotri from various parts of the country to collect the Holy Ganges water and walk back to their respective places to offer this water to Lord Shiva.

This practice takes place during the month of Shravan, and western UP typically turns saffron during this one month period as lakhs of devotees march barefoot carrying the holy water on special vessels called ‘Kanwars’, chanting ‘Bol Bum… Bum Bhole’, in praise of Lord Shiva. The Kanwar Yatra or pilgrimage begins on July 22, 2024.

The Muzaffarnagar administration has justified this decision saying this was to prevent Kanwariyas from buying “all sorts of food” from Muslim sellers which could result in law and order problems in future. Obviously, this order is for communal profiling of Muslim sellers because the Kanwar yatra from Rajastham, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh has to pass through Muzaffarnagar district for much of its distance.

Muzaffarnager incidentally is a Muslim dominated area and many Muslim vendors, either running eateries, hotels, dhabas or thelas, typically name their joints as “guddu ka dhaba” or “ Munna tea stall” or “ chai lovers’ joint” which does not give away their religious identity. Hindutva bigots have been raising objections to this practice because this, according to them, results in ‘kanwariyas’ eating from these shops and thereby “getting defiled.”

Last year, Swami Yashvir Maharaj, a priest from a prominent ashram in Muzaffarnagar, had raised objections to this effect with the district administration. This year, Muzaffarnagar MLA Kapil Dev Aggrawal, who is also a minister in the Adityanath government, held a meeting with Muzaffarnagar district administration, and instructed them to take steps to prevent the recurrence of such “ confusion.”

Subsequently, the Muzaffarnagar administration , which has been busy with yatra preparations since the beginning of this month, issued an order on July 17. The order, which was issued by the SSP Abhishek Singh, reads “ In the area under our jurisdiction, which is around 240 kms, all eateries, including hotels, dhabas and thelas, have been instructed to display the names of proprietors and those managing the shops. This is to avoid confusion and prevent allegations in the future .”

Singh further clarified that instances in the past had come to light where Muslims eatable sellers would use Hindu Gods and Goddesses names to sell their ware and when their identity was revealed later, it led to ugly law and order situations.

This order, expectedly, has resulted in a furor on the social media with not only the opposition parties, but even its allies like the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) lashing out at the BJP. Demanding this order be withdrawn immediately.

Senior JD-U leader K. C. Tyagi said this order was unnecessary because never in the past has there ever been a communal problem during kanwar yatra despite the fact that the yatra route passes through muslim dominated areas like Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur. “I urge the UP government to take this order back because this will also deprive many Muslims from their livelihood,” Tyagi told media channels.

The Congress party , criticising the order, called upon all right thinking people and media to “rise against this state sponsored bigotry.” Party spokesman Pawan Khera said “ we cannot allow the BJP to push the country back into the dark ages,”

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav described this order as a “ social crime” and urged the courts to take suo motto note of the matter and direct the Muzaffarnagar administration to take it back. Trinamool Congress also came down heavily against the BJP. Trinamool Congress’ Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra called it “blatantly illegal and anti constitutional”.

And, TMC leader Jawhar Sircar said going by this yardstick the BJP government should “ban Amarnath yatra as well because the entire yatra route is serviced by Muslims”. The TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale described the order as “shocking and discriminatory against Muslims,” he shared on X that he would file a case with the National Human Rights Commission . “The order is not only foolish but shameless too,” Gokhale said on X.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and LS MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who was among the first to comment on this order, said “this was like Apartheid in South Africa and Judenboycott in Germany which meant boycotting Jewish business.”

But this actually is not the only incident of its kind where BJP leaders, or their allies, have unleashed on Muslims. Only two days ago Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, speaking at the state executive meeting, had called for dumping the “sabka saath sabka vishwas” call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He had said Muslims don’t vote for BJP so this sabka saath sabka vishwas sabka vikas idea should be dropped. “We should support those who support us,” Adhikari had said. He had also called upon the party to shut minority morcha in the party.

Speaking on similar lines, JD-U MP from Sitamarhi, Devesh Chandra Thakur, had last month, after the Lok Sabha election results were announced, declared that he won't do the work of Muslims and Yadavs because they had not voted for him. “They are most welcome to come to my place, have tea and sweets and leave. I will not do their work,” he had said.

Till this day he has remained unrepentant, even justifying his stand saying he was speaking on the basis of his 25 years of public life. BJP leader and Union Minister from Bihar, Giriraj Singh too had supported him then saying it really hurts when despite all they do for Muslims they don’t vote for BJP. “ It is natural to feel like this,” he had said.

Significantly enough, not a single BJP leader has come forward to either contradict these statements, or rebuke those making them. The party high command’s silence on these public statements is obviously inferred as their tacit support to such statements.

On the Muzaffarnagar incident too, despite the furor on social media and all round condemnation, the BJP has chosen to keep quiet. The order remains valid till the time of writing this report.

Political observers see nothing unusual in this stand because this is in keeping with the BJP politics, they say. According to them, if they had instructed the vendors to only write vegetarian or non-vegetarian on their shops it would have sufficed. As it is, the government has already banned selling liquor and meat along the kanwar yatra route during the duration of shravan. But obviously, the BJP can only be expected to indulge in this type of Hindu Muslim politics.