AIMIM president and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi has criticised the Uttar Pradesh government and police for letting goons target hotel employees close to Muzaffarnagar during Kanwar Yatra, asking why they are being permitted to work as a "parallel government." Talking about recent incidents of men being compelled to strip inorder to "prove their religion" on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, Owaisi mentioned that localities such as Baghonwali, Sarwat, and Bajheri close to the Muzaffarnagar bypass have enjoyed peaceful pilgrimages for more than a decade but all that has changed now.
"Few years ago, there were no such episodes, and now people are being dragged out, requested for Aadhaar cards, and even made to undress if they don't produce one? Who are these vigilantes? Is the government governing the state, or have these groups taken it over?"
In his cutting criticism, Owaisi queried what right these people had to enter hotels and interrogate staff. "Who gave you the right to go into a hotel and ask somebody their name or compel them to produce their Aadhaar card? Are you the police? Are you the law? Are you the government?" he asked, quoting a Supreme Court order against such intimidation, which he claimed was still valid.
They went to the hotel and demanded the Aadhaar card of the owner. When they did not succeed, they asked him to strip. Our demand is simple: abide by the rule of law," said Owaisi.
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His comment follows reports from Muzaffarnagar where devotees of controversial seer Swamy Yashveer Maharaj allegedly made roadside diner workers and hotel employees prove their religion by asking them to lower the pants.
The vigilante gang, which is said to be part of a self-styled group known as the Bharatiya Sanatan Suraksha Dal, has been accused of targeting minority-run establishments multiple times during the current Kanwar Yatra.
The Supreme Court, last July 22, issued a temporary order suspending the Uttar Pradesh government's directive requiring shop owners along Kanwar Yatra routes to put up their names. The court made it clear that owners only need to state the nature of food served in their establishments.
While arguing during the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the state government's order was illegal and called it a "camouflage order."
The order was issued after Muzaffarnagar Police issued a directive last year, asking all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra path to place their owners' names on signboards. The Uttar Pradesh government, led by Yogi Adityanath, subsequently extended this order to the rest of the state, with the Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh governments following suit. The move was severely criticised not just by the Opposition but also by a few NDA partners, such as the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
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