Kanwar order row: Owaisi claims hatred for Muslims; BJP compares him with Jinnah

The Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments’ direction to dhabas and restaurants along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names has triggered a massive row, with the Opposition calling the order discriminatory.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that the order reflects the visceral hatred against Muslims in India.

“Fear on UP’s Kanwar routes: This is the reality of hatred for Indian Muslims. Credit for this visceral hatred goes to political parties, leaders of Hindutva and so-called lip-servicing secular parties,” Owaisi said in a post on X on Saturday, sharing a photo of an egg stall displaying the name of its owner.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party chief Sukanta Majumdar said the Opposition was misleading the masses. He claimed similar notifications had been issued by the Samajwadi Party’s governments. He said Owaisi was playing the role of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

“The Opposition is misleading people and spreading lies. A similar kind of notification was issued during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government, and Akhilesh Yadav’s government also issued such notifications… it’s a routine exercise and not specific to the Kanwar Yatra. The law requires that names be registered, not identifying anyone by religion… Hindus who eat non-veg go to Muslim shops. In West Bengal, we go to many such shops, which are run by Muslims. The Opposition is trying to divide the people and Asaduddin Owaisi is playing the role of Jinnah,” Majumdar said.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said divisive agendas will only divide the country

“Kanwar Yatra Route UP directs eateries including roadside carts to display the names of the owners! Is this the route to a “Viksit Bharat”? Divisive agendas will only Divide the country!” he wrote on X.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani said the order was part of a “new game of politics under the guise of religion”.

“This is a completely discriminatory and communal decision, and anti-national elements will get an opportunity to benefit from this,” Madani said in a statement.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti claimed the BJP government would target the Dalits next.

“First they (BJP) want to trample the rights of the Muslims, then will be the turn of the Dalits and then backwards and other castes because they want to create a different system and what they did in UP is against the Constitution of this country,” she said.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut claimed the BJP was destroying the unity of the country.

“Now you (BJP) are directing food stalls to put up nameplates based on caste and religion? Do you want to divide the country? You won’t profit from it. You are breaking the nation’s unity,” he said.