Kanwariyas walk past the shops on which banners with shopkeepers' name were put up on Kanwar Marg after an order issued by Uttar Pradesh Government, in Muzaffarnagar, Saturday, July 20, 2024.
The owners, especially Musims, of the eateries and dhabas along the 'kanwar yatra' routes in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and other adjoining districts, found themselves in a dilemma after the Supreme Court's interim stay on the Uttar Pradesh government's directive mandating display of nameplates outside their eateries and shops on Monday.
A majority of the dhaba and eatery owners on the kanwar yatra routes had already put up boards and banners displaying their names and the names of their eateries after the directive.
''The cops asked us to immediately put up boards displaying the names of the owners as the kanwar yatra had already started,'' said the owner of a dhaba on the kanwar yatra route in Muzaffarnagar district. Even the fruit sellers had also put up nameplates of paper on their carts.
A few owners said that they had ordered for the boards and would display the same once they received them.
According to the reports, the local administration had also asked the owners of the eateries to mention if garlic and onion had been used in preparing the dishes. ''Consuming garlic and onion and anything made using them is strictly prohibited during the Shravana month and the kanwarias don't eat dishes which have garlic and onion,'' said another eatery owner.
A group of kanwarias had ransacked a dhaba on Parei crossing in Muzaffarnagar district after it turned out that onion was used in preparing the dish which had been given to them. Incidentally the dhaba belonged to a Hindu.
Reports said that many Muslim owners of the eateries had sacked their Hindu employees after the directive. ''My income has reduced drastically after I put up the nameplate outside my eatery....now kanwarias don't come to my dhaba,'' said the owner of a dhaba in Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar. Similarly the Hindu owners have also sacked their Muslim employees fearing the wrath of the kanwarias.
The local administration is also in a state of dilemma after the SC order as it is an interim order. The kanwar yatra would come to an end on August two.
Thousands of 'kanwarias' from Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and different parts of UP pass through Muzaffarnagar to take waters of Ganga for being offered at the Shiva temples.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav as well as some NDA alliance partners slammed the directive and demanded its roll back. ''What happens if the names of the eateries are Guddu, Munna, Chotu or Fatte....what do their names reveal?,'' Akhilesh had said in a message on 'X' (formerly Twitter).