- Prima facie, it was evident that the Uttar Pradesh government’s guidelines for the food stalls, shacks, and eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route were not only outrageously discriminatory but also provided grist to the opposition parties to raise a hue and cry about targeting a particular community. The moot point to ponder here is why in the first place the UP government decided to issue guidelines that go against the tenet of democratic credentials of the country. Discrimination based on caste, creed, class, religion, ethnicity, and language is contrary to the fundamental rights mandated in the Constitution extending the same to one and all. As it is, the country continues to singe from the communal versus secular narrative right through.
PC: The Daily Guardian
- Thus, the guidelines mooted by the UP government simply appeared anachronistic far away from the aspirational society that India proudly claims to be. As is its wont, the matter reached the portals of the Supreme Court and thankfully, the Apex Court’s order banning the display of names at eateries along the Kanwar route removed a government-created blot for now. Indeed, the SC’s interim order placing a pause on UP, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh government directives for food stalls along the route of Shiv Bhakts’ annual Kanwar Yatra to display their names and their staffs is a relief for both proprietors and pilgrims. Make no mistake, states were wrong to enforce with gusto and precision such a measure.
- As SC said, food laws require that menus be displayed, and food be correctly labeled. People, petitioners argued, visit restaurants basis the menu, not who’s serving or cooking which directly feeds into the politics of untouchability. Thus, the case stood on the trinity of, SC said, safety, standard, and secularism. The measure had a chilling effect with restaurants forced to ask Muslim employees to stand down during the yatra. The workers, largely pasmanda, would thus lose wages and proprietors, their workers. The Kanwar Yatra has been the busiest season for decades for these eateries, fruit sellers, and food stalls on the 240km odd route with multiple paths, catering to hungry, thirsty, and exhausted walkers. The non-compliant would have had to cough up fines.
PC: The Week
- The choice then was between a fine and the possibility of an economic boycott. It was unconscionable for states to roll out such a targeted measure that hits the livelihoods of certain sections during a certain festival along a certain route – Muslims along UP’s districts, and OBC/Dalit-concentrated pockets in districts from UP to Uttarakhand. Any rationale was missing from the word go. Unsurprisingly, directives drew new fault lines. Several Kanwars too criticized the directive. After all, there’s also the matter of choice. Peer pressure is big in community activities such as this. SC’s order rightly brings pause. But these govt directives should be altogether nixed. They speak of poor governance and poorer politics. No questions asked.
