Amid the raging outrage among the residents of Himachal Pradesh over rising crimes and changing demographic composition, the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu led Congress government has yielded before the ongoing public movement in the state. Notably, on Wednesday (25th September), the Himachal Pradesh government officially announced that it has made it mandatory to display the names and addresses of eatery owners for the convenience of customers.
According to the order, eateries, food joints and restaurants falling within the jurisdiction of the hilly state will have to display the name and address of their owners. An official decision regarding the implementation of this order was taken during a meeting of the state’s Urban Development and Municipal Corporation on Tuesday.
Additionally, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has constituted a seven-member committee to implement this official order concerning eatery shops, food joints and restaurants. The committee will also include state cabinet Ministers Vikramaditya Singh and Anirudh Singh.
As per media reports, during the meeting, Minister Vikramaditya Singh added that laws will also be introduced for hawkers and the government will issue identity cards to them.
Addressing reporters regarding this issue, Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh said, “We have decided to strictly enforce the rules in the state, much like Uttar Pradesh.”
Rising concern of demographic shift and recent criminal incidents intensifies Public movement in Himachal Pradesh
It is pertinent to note that the Himachal Pradesh Congress government has passed this order for eateries in the wake of rising discontent among locals who had been apprehensive about the preservation of the culture and traditions of the hilly state and its pristine environment. While the locals had always been expressing discontent against the unmitigated disaster of influx of outsiders, the recent criminal incidents have intensified a mass movement in Himachal Pradesh.
Expressing concerns about the changing demographic composition of the small state having a population of little over 75 lakhs, the residents have staged massive protests in several districts.
The recent public movement aimed against the influx of undocumented outsiders, illegal Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis erupted after locals expressed resentment against the illegal mosques that had come up across several districts in Himachal Pradesh.
Hindu organisations stage protest in several districts against illegal mosques and influx of illegals
Strikingly, members of the Hindu organisations came out in large numbers demanding that the authorities should demolish illegal mosques that had been built on government or usurped land. Several major protests were witnessed in Shimla, Mandi and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh.
In the wake of rising incidents of crimes and concerns of their safety, the local Himachalis have also voiced their concerns against the fast changing demographic composition in their region, attacks on their traditions, cultural practices and their properties.
For Himachalis, the underlying issue goes beyond partisan politics and the ongoing public movement is to safeguard the identity of the hilly state, preserve its traditions and culture which has been under attack on account of undocumented and unregulated outsiders who are either not accustomed to their lifestyle or trample their Pahadi identity and pride apart from indulging in criminal activities.
Incidentally, while the Congress government has been facing nationwide charges of Muslim appeasement, the concerns of locals go beyond partisan issues, as even the local units of Congress party had been averse to upsetting the aspirations of locals, comprising around 90% Hindus. However, it has left the ‘secular’ government of Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu to walk on a tightrope of both launching a crackdown on illegal outsiders as well as not alienating its Muslim voter base which has been alleging “religious persecution” under the guise of such crackdown on illegals.
Himachal Pradesh government follows the footsteps of Yogi Adityanath government
Nonetheless, the recent decree passed by the Himachal Pradesh government has a striking resemblance with the similar order by the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh. In line with the UP government’s order, the operators, proprietors, and managers have to clearly display their names and addresses at all food and drink establishments falling within the jurisdiction of the state. The order came in the backdrop of media reports that certain Muslim miscreants were arrested for adulterating foods by allegedly spitting or urinating in the food items before they served it to their unsuspecting customers.
A similar order was earlier issued by the Uttar Pradesh administration. It was related to eatery joints that fall on the Kanwar Yatra routes, however, it was temporarily paused by the Supreme Court as it held that the Police was not the competent authority to issue such orders. However, the Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti made it “voluntary” to the owners to display their names while making it “mandatory” to display the type of food being served in the eatery, that is, demarcating vegetarian and non-veg eateries.
Pausing the Police order issued for eateries falling on Kanwar Yatra route, the SC bench had noted that there was no government order empowering the police to give directions in this case. The Bench order stated that such directions could be issued under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 or the Street Vendors Act, 2014 to ensure “shudh shakahari” (strictly vegetarian) food is served to the Kanwar Yatris.
