Kanwar Yatra row

THE BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered all food and beverage shops along the Kanwar Yatra routes to display the name and identity of the operator/owner. Though maintaining the sanctity of the pilgrims’ faith and ensuring peaceful movement of kanwariyas have been officially cited as the reasons for the move, there is an unmistakable intention to single out the minority Muslim community. No wonder Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has warned of action against vendors selling halal-certified products.

The fortnight-long Kanwar Yatra has occasionally witnessed violence, with kanwariyas and shopkeepers getting into an argument over food, particularly the sale of meat. In August 2018, the Supreme Court had taken a serious note of ‘grave incidents of vandalism’ of private and public property during the yatra in western Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region. In 2022, an Army man was allegedly murdered in Haridwar by a group of yatris from Haryana following an altercation. The onus is on the state government concerned to deploy an adequate number of police personnel along the route so that clashes or disturbances can be averted. Marking out shops run by Muslims will only fuel communal disharmony and no way guarantee that there will be no confrontation between kanwariyas and vendors/passersby.

Notably, two BJP allies — the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) — have slammed the UP order. BSP supremo Mayawati has called it ‘unconstitutional’. The polarisation playbook did not do the trick for the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha polls in UP. However, the party apparently cannot resist the temptation of trying it out ahead of the Assembly byelections. Finding itself on a weak wicket after the electoral reversal, the BJP seems desperate to win over disenchanted Hindu voters. However, the ploy may backfire and worsen the party’s woes in UP.