Supreme Court stays Yogi govt's Kanwar Yatra diktat given to eateries

The top court said as quoted by NDTV, "...until returnable date we deem it appropriate to pass interim order prohibiting enforcement of above directives. In other words, food sellers must not be forced to display names of owners, staff..."

The controversy arose when the Uttar Pradesh government mandated that food establishments along the Kanwar Yatra route display the names of their owners. While this measure was intended to promote transparency and accountability, many perceive it as a covert effort to identify and target Muslim-owned businesses.

The opposition has slammed the Yogi Adityanath regime for the order, with All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleging that it reflected “visceral hatred” towards Indian Muslims.

"Fear on UP's Kanwar routes: This is the reality of hatred for Indian Muslims. Credit for this visceral hatred goes to political parties, leaders of Hindutva, and so-called lip-servicing secular parties," claimed All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

Samajwadi Party raised the issue and asserted that the order was “completely wrong”.

Not just the Opposition, several BJP allies had demanded the Uttar Pradesh government to roll back the diktat.

Speaking to PTI, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan said he doesn't support anything that brings a division among people on the basis of "caste" or "religion".

The LJP (Ram Vilas) chief said he only believes in two classes of people, rich and poor.

"We need to bridge the gap between these two classes of people. It is every government's responsibility to work for the poor, which includes all sections of society such as Dalits, backwards, upper castes and Muslims as well. All are there. We need to work for them," the young politician said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

He added, " Whenever there is such divide in the name of caste or religion, I absolutely do not either support it or encourage it. I do not think any educated young person of my age, irrespective of the caste or religion they come from, is affected by such things."

Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), an important ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP, opposed the move and asked for a review of such an order.

Rashtriya Lok Dal or RLD, another ally of the BJP, has opposed the diktat as well.

RLD national general secretary Trilok Tyag said as quoted by Hindustan Times, "Why do you make someone write their name on street carts? They have the right to work...This tradition is absolutely wrong. It is up to the customer, they can make purchases from wherever they want...I would like to ask politicians - does consuming alcohol not corrupt you religiously?

"Does it happen only when you consume meat? So, why is there no prohibition on alcohol? Why do they not speak about alcohol? Because those who do business have a nexus, it is a game of the powerful. These small shops are set up by the poor. So, you are pointing fingers at them. I would demand that ban alcohol too."

As the controversy spiked, the police clarified in a statement that the intention of the order was not to create any "religious discrimination" but only to facilitate the devotees.