Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 20: Amidst the raging controversy over the Uttar Pradesh police asking the eateries on the “Kanwar Yatra” route to display the names of the owners prominently, a BJP member of the Madhya Pradesh assembly has suggested his government to make it a general rule for all shop keepers to display their names round the year.
The UP police order, which was also implemented by the neighbouring BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, was strongly criticised not only by the opposition but also by some important allies of the NDA supporting the Narendra Modi who saw in the move a pattern to isolate the Muslim shop-keepers from doing normal business.
The UP and the Uttarakhand governments, however, had claimed that the move was not aimed at creating a wedge between the two communities but only to caution the “Kanwariyas” on way to Haridwar during the holy month of “Shravana” from unknowingly taking food and water from non-Hindu shops and create furore later.
The opposition, however, is not convinced and even the NDA allies like Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party had demanded the two-BJP ruled states to immediately withdraw the order. Following backlash, the condition in Muzaffarnagar, which was the first to issue the “name display” order, was later made “voluntary.”
But while the UP and Uttarakhand orders are for a limited period and limited routes, the BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh Ramesh Mendola wanted it to be a general rule to be implemented all over the state and round the year. He on Saturday wrote to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav urging him to issue such an order to make it mandatory for business establishments and shops in the State to display the owner’s name joining the ongoing controversy in UP and Uttarakhand.
In his letter, Mr Mendola, an MLA from Indore-2 constituency, said displaying their names would make them “feel proud” and encourage a “healthy competition” in business. “By doing so, the identity of the shopkeeper will be established in the society and all the shopkeepers will try to provide better service to the customers to enhance their name and goodwill. This will lead to healthy competition in the business world and the state will develop at a faster pace,” wrote Mr Mendola, who is also the president of the Madhya Pradesh Olympic Association.
The July 19 order by the Yogi Adityanath-led U.P. government, which mandates all eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of the owners, has faced criticism from Opposition parties as well as some of BJP’s allies who have termed it as “divisive.”
Mr Mendola, however, denied that his request had anything to do with religion and politics. “I have not specified Muslims or any other community in my letter. It has nothing to do with religion or politics. This practice already exists at most places, just like having a name plate outside someone’s house,” he said, responding to a question about criticism of the U.P. government order. Mr Mendola said he would also raise the matter with the M.P. Chief Minister in person.
