‘Displaying Shop Owner’s Name on Kanwar Route A Logical Step’

Vansh Saini, a Kanwar Yatri from Muzaffarnagar, says if owners display their names on food stalls, it will help pilgrims maintain the sanctity of their Yatra. His views:

Several members of my family and many friends have participated in the Kanwar Yatra, an annual pilgrimage on foot to fetch holy water to Shiva temples of their devotion. This year I too decided to take part in the religious Yatra. When I saw several of my fellow pilgrims creating a sack of things that included water bottles, daily-use items and medicines, I wondered why they were adding to their luggage when everything is available en route.

Upon enquiry, I was told that they wanted to ensure the purity of the things that they use or consume during the Yatra. Using or consuming any prohibited or profane item would mean that the whole purpose of their pilgrimage ruined. Thus, they would prefer sattvik or Vaishnav food, which is vegetarian food cooked without using onion and garlic, and using their own wares as far as possible.

It may sound irrational to some, but for the faithful such a strict regimen is necessary as you are carrying holy water with yourself. To maintain water’s purity, they carrier too must remain sattvik.  After all, Kanwar Yatra is a kind of penance and thus every effort is made to maintain its sanctity.

It is in this light that I wholeheartedly support the UP administration order which stipulated that all food stall owners along the Yatra route must display their names and the food items sold. This way, the pilgrims can ensure that meat items or food with onion-garlic are not cooked on those premises from where they purchase their food items.

ALSO READ: UP Govt Was Super-Efficient In Managing Kanwar Yatra

The Supreme Court stay on the order is very strange. It would have been better if the court had left it to the food stall owners whether to display their names or not.  That way the Yatris would choose to purchase items where the names would be displayed.

The entire commotion that is being created, mainly by political leaders to gain sympathy of minority community. They forget that the order was not incumbent on shopkeepers of a particular community or caste but on everyone. There have been cases where a restaurant is named after a Hindu religious figure but it also sells meat items. If a pilgrim wants to avoid such food during the Yatra, how does it become discriminatory?

When all shops must display their PAN details, registration numbers etc clearly outside their establishments, why not add the name of owners too in the displayed items. After all, aren’t there already provisions that restrict sale of liquor or meat items near religious places?

There have been cases mentioned in social media that several restaurants on busy highways were found to names after Hindu gods and were owned by Muslims. This probably came to light when consumers used QR codes to pay their bills. While there is no legal provision how a person chooses the title of his or her business outlet, one must respect every religion and faith and avoid naming it after the religious figures of a faith that the owner himself does not follow.

As told to Rajat Rai

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/