Kanwar Yatra: Varanasi Municipal Corporation asks meat shops along route to remain closed for holy month

The Varanasi Municipal Corporation, in an order, has asked all meat and poultry shops on the Kanwar Yatra route to remain closed for the month of Saawan. 

The directive was finalised during an executive committee meeting chaired by Varanasi's Mayor, Sandeep Srivastava. The Municipal Commissioner said the decision was taken to ‘prevent’ potential inconvenience for the Kanwariyas.

The Municipal Commissioner has instructed the concerned officials to ensure that these shops along the Kanwar routes are shut throughout the Sawan month to prevent any inconvenience or issues for the Kanwariyas. He also mentioned that since Kanwariyas come from various routes, a survey will be conducted on their routes so that the meat and poultry shops along the route are closed as soon as possible.

The directive follows another diktats issued after district administrations in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh asked shop owners in parts of the state to display their names and phone numbers along the Kanwar Yatra route. 

In Muzaffarnagar, shop and stall owners have started putting their names and phone numbers on banners. Later, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath mandated that every eatery along the Kanwar Yatra route display its name. Meanwhile, days after the Muzaffarnagar police asked all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names, the administration has now extended the diktat to other shops as well to avoid any “confusion”.  

Following in the footsteps of Uttarakhand and UP government, the Ujjain municipal body has also ordered shopkeepers to display their names. Ujjain Mayor Mukesh Tatwal on July 20 said that violators will have to pay a Rs 2,000 fine for the first offence and Rs 5,000 if they defy this order.  

“Ujjain is a religious and holy city. People come here with religious aastha (faith). They have the right to know about the shopkeeper whose services they are availing. If a customer is dissatisfied or cheated, knowing the shopkeeper’s details allows them to seek redress,” he said. 

On July 20, Uttarakhand authorities mandated that shop owners along the Kanwar Yatra route display nameplates with their details. Backing the directive, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami cited “past instances of shop owners using fake names”. He said, “It’s a good decision”. 

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has raised concerns over the recent directive from the Uttar Pradesh government, which mandates eateries, tea stalls, and fruit carts to display nameplates during the Kanwar Yatra. 

Meanwhile, Yoga guru and businessman Baba Ramdev on July 21 backed the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand government’s direction to shopkeepers along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their names, saying everyone should be proud of their names and only thing that matters is purity in one’s work.   

“If Ramdev has no problem in revealing his identity, then why should Rahman have a problem in revealing his identity? Everyone should be proud of their name,” he told media persons in Haridwar. “There is no need to hide the name, only purity is required in work. If our work is pure, it does not matter if we are Hindu, Muslim or from any other community...,” the Yoga guru added.  

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police said that all preparations for the Shravan Shivratri festival had been successfully completed.

"In the context of the upcoming Sawan Shivratri festival, a final phase meeting was held today. Officers from the neighbouring districts of Delhi were also invited and participated in this inter-departmental meeting. All preparations have been completed successfully, and we are confident that the festival of Shravan Shivratri will be conducted smoothly. All aspects, including security, cleanliness, and other necessary arrangements, were discussed in the inter-departmental meeting," ASP Manish Kumar Mishra told ANI.