Sidhima Choudhary, Pune
Amidst the Kanwar Yatra, the UP government issued a directive for the vendors to reveal their names as a ‘Nameplate’ along the route to the Yatra, later halted by the Supreme Court.
The 12-day-long Kanwar Yatra begins with the UP government order to highlight the shop owner’s and staff’s names outside the shop on the route to the Yatra. The Supreme Court further challenged the following directive, halting this direction in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other state governments from implementing it.
According to the directive released by the UP government, the food sellers, hawkers, dabba owners and the staff working in the shop on the route to the Kanwar Yatra were compelled to unveil their names. The directive was called the ‘Nameplate,’ which was seen as challenging the notions of secularism and was backlashed by the people.
Further, the Supreme Court imposed an interim stay on this directive on Monday. The Supreme Court asked for the local government to put the directive on a standstill, ruling the police can only ask for the food items to be displayed outside the eateries.
Subsequently, the bench of Justice, Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti issued a notice to the local governments saying, “It is the most appropriate decision to put an end to the imposition of this directive as it is just required to state the kind of food they are offering, rather than their names”
The ex-chief minister of UP and Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav questioned the directive asking the court to impose suo motu cognizance whereas the Samajwadi Party questioned “What if the names of the owners and the workers are Chottu, Munna, Fatte, Guddu? What will be done then?”
The Association for the Protection of Civil Rights, an NGO, challenged the UP government’s orders by filing a petition against the state government. Whereas, the opposition party later questioned the directive in the parliament calling it ‘communal and divisive,’ which targets solely the Muslims and other backward communities to forcibly reveal their identities.
The Kanwar Yatra is considered an annual pilgrimage of Shiva’s devotees to Hindu pilgrimage places like Haridwar and Gaumukh in Uttarakhand, Bhaidyanath, and Jharkhand to collect the holy water of the Ganges river. There have also been several extensive arrangements made for the Yatra. The Delhi-Meerut expressway remains closed for heavy vehicles whereas the Delhi Police issued a detailed traffic advisory.