24 Jul. 24: Lauding the Supreme Court’s interim stay on the Uttar Pradesh government’s order requiring eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display their names, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He questioned whether the party considers religion when Amarnath and Vaishno Devi yatris undertake their pilgrimages with significant assistance from Muslim communities.
“If the (Kanwar Yatra) order was meant to keep Muslims away, then for God’s sake, tell me, when the (Amarnath) yatra takes place here (in Jammu and Kashmir)…it is not possible without the Muslims,” Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar. Elaborating further, the National Conference vice president emphasized that Amarnath yatris rely heavily on Muslim porters and guides. “The people who take Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims on horses or as porters…which religion do they belong to? There, the BJP does not see religion.”
The Supreme Court’s decision to stay the UP government’s directive was seen as a major setback for the state administration. The directive, which mandated eateries to display their names, was challenged on the grounds that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) powers could not be overridden by the police. The Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti, ruled that while eateries need to display the type of food they serve, it is not necessary to display their names.
“We deem it appropriate to pass an interim order prohibiting the enforcement of the above directives. In other words, the affected owners have to display the type of food but not the names,” the bench stated.
The Uttar Pradesh government had extended the controversial order, initially issued in Muzaffarnagar, to the entire state. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also mentioned that similar instructions were already in effect in his state.
The order has faced widespread criticism from opposition parties, civil society, and even some leaders within the ruling alliance, who argue that the rule unfairly targets Muslim traders.
