Is the order to shopkeepers on the route of Kanwar Yatra to put up name plates a campaign against Muslims?

UP administration’s order promoting untouchability?

Then comes the matter of untouchability. Article 17 of the Constitution says that untouchability is abolished from the country. This means that the practice of untouchability will be illegal and punishable here. It is clearly stated in the Constitution that ‘Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is prohibited. Enforcing any disability arising out of untouchability will be a crime which will be punishable according to the law.’

The question is whether the latest order of the Uttar Pradesh administration violates this provision? The answer again is – absolutely not, because the order is not applicable to any one religion, caste, sect but to all.

Is UP’s order an attack on the right to livelihood?

The Constitution also gives the right to freedom of livelihood, trade and business. Article 19 (ch) says that any citizen of India shall have the right to practice any profession, occupation, trade or business. Some things have been said in its interpretation which are important to note. It says- Nothing in the said sub-section (ch) shall affect the operation of an existing law in so far as it imposes reasonable restrictions in the interests of the general public on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub-section or prevent the State from making any law imposing such restrictions.

It is clear that the state i.e. the government has the right to implement appropriate rules or make laws if it is a matter of common public interest. If the Uttar Pradesh administration has implemented a rule in the interest of lakhs of Kanwariyas, then what is the protest about? Now someone can ask that how will the Kanwariyas benefit if shopkeepers install name plates? The answer to this will be given later.

right to practice one’s own religion

For now, let us look at another provision of the Constitution, the right to freedom of religion. Article 25 of the Constitution gives the right to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion. It says- ‘Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons shall have equal right to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.’

Keep in mind that everyone has the right to follow their own religion and also to propagate it, but with some conditions. The conditions are that public order should not be disturbed, there should be no chaos, there should be no talk other than moral conduct, and a health crisis should not arise. In this, consider these three points – chaos, proper behavior and health crisis. In the light of the latest order of the UP administration, we will discuss these three points further.

The issue of regulation of secular activity

The next point of Article 25 states that nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State from making any law which regulates or restricts any economic, financial, political or other secular activity connected with religious practice. It gives the State the power to enact rules or make laws to regulate secular activities.

We have the right to manage the affairs of religion

Then Article 26 mentions the freedom to manage religious affairs. It says that every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right to manage its religious affairs subject to public order, morality and health. Note that it is our Constitution that gives everyone the right to manage religious affairs.

Installing nameplates is a step taken in public interest

So let us now understand what benefit will the kanwadis get if the shopkeepers install name plates? Every day, incidents of spitting, urinating and other ways of contamination of food items by a particular community keep coming to light from every corner of the country. Even a video of meat and fruits being kept in the same box has gone viral. If only the people of a particular community are doing this, then don’t we all need to be cautious? Isn’t this a threat to our health?

Who doesn’t know – who is spitting and urinating on the food and drinks?

Then Kanwadias are on a religious ritual, so if they are given food and drinks containing spit and urine, then will their ritual be disrupted? So this is a matter of wider public interest. If information is received about someone doing this, then chaos will spread. It is the responsibility of the state to not let any kind of chaos spread. For this, if it has said that put up your name plate, then is there any problem? The matter is also of proper behavior. So can permission be given to break the limits of proper behavior? Then the state also has the right to make rules for worldly activities.

Where is the place for secularism in a purely religious event?

Apart from all this, Kanwar Yatra is a purely religious event. Religious rituals cannot be performed in a secular manner. Rituals have their own rules which have to be followed. Purity has to be taken care of in this. If a Kanwar Yatra Yatra decides that he/she will not buy any goods from a shopkeeper who has not taken a bath, then it is his/her religious right. If we are forced to distance ourselves from someone in following the rules of the ritual, then it does not at all mean that we are against him/her or want to harm him/her.

The only thing is that we are on a ritual and our ritual will be completed only by following the rules, we cannot raise the flag of secularism there. The order of the Uttar Pradesh administration should be judged on these criteria. If the agenda is to do politics then it is a different matter, otherwise it is our constitutional right to ensure purity and transparency in the Kanwar Yatra. There is no discrimination with anyone in this, there is no agenda against anyone.