‘May give rise to the disease of untouchability’: BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi criticises UP Police Kanwar Yatra order | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Bhartiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday opposed the advisory to eateries along the Kanwar yatra route, requiring them to display the names of their owners. Naqvi claimed that such orders may give rise to the disease of untouchability.
In a social media post on X, Naqvi criticized the officials, and said, “The hasty orders of some over-zealous officials may give rise to the disease of untouchability…Faith must be respected, but untouchability must not be encouraged.”

Naqvi further quoted Saint Ravidas’s couplet, saying, “Janm jaat mat poochhie, ka jaat aru paat. Raidas poot sab Prabhu ke, koye nahin jaat kujat.”
This statement follows a recent directive from Muzaffarnagar Police requiring all eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of owners to prevent any ‘confusion.’
The Kanwar Yatra this year is set to commence on July 22, marking the beginning of the Shravan month. This month-long festival attracts people from across the country to Haridwar and Rishikesh to collect water from the Ganga and offer it at Shiva temples upon their return home.