The Uttar Pradesh government has made it mandatory for eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR code stickers, which what many believe is a way to target Muslim food business owners.
According to the latest order, all shops along the 540 km Kanwar Yatra route, from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar, must display the QR code stickers to show the menus.
All eateries must also link the QR Code to the Food Safety CONNECT App. The mobile application is developed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), designed to enable consumers to report food safety concerns, track complaints, and verify FSSAI licenses.
According to government officials, this initiative would help ensure hygiene, food safety-related information, transparency, and accountability for the estimated four crore Kanwar Yatra pilgrims.
The latest government order mirrors last year’s directive mandating restaurants, fruit shops, roadside dhabas and hotel owners to display their names in front of the shops to indicate if they were Hindus or Muslims.
The order, issued by the UP and Uttarakhand governments, drew sharp criticism from all sections of society, with many calling it blatant discrimination and a move to fuel communal tensions amongst communities.
The matter finally reached the Supreme Court which stayed the order.
Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage of devotees of Shiva, known as Kanwarias. They take the procession to pilgrimage places of Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Ajgaibinath, Sultanganj in Bhagalpur, Bihar, to fetch holy waters of the Ganges River.
SC to hear pleas challenging QR code mandate
The Supreme Court will hear a plea on July 15 challenging the Uttar Pradesh government’s directive mandating the display of QR codes on all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh is set to hear the PIL filed by academician Apoorvanand Jha and others.
“The new measures mandate the display of QR codes on all eateries along the Kanwar route, which reveal the names and identities of the owners, thereby achieving the same discriminatory profiling that was previously stayed by this court,” Jha said.
Opposition criticises mandate
Opposition leaders have strongly criticised the UP government’s QR code mandate for eateries, stating it directly targets Muslims.
Congress MP Imran Masood accused the UP government of dividing people through such orders. “Will they install QR codes for job opportunities as well?” he asked. “By installing QR codes at festivals, they are propagating hatred and dividing people. Where do they want to take the country? Unemployment is a big issue, but they don’t want to talk about it,” Masood said.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi questioned why the Yogi Adityanath-led administration was not adhering to the Supreme Court’s interim order from last year, which had stayed a similar directive requiring shop owners to display their names and contact details outside their establishments.
He asked why the UP government and police allowed Hindutva vigilante groups to harass hotel staff near Muzaffarnagar, questioning if these right-wing groups are a “parallel government.”
“There are many hotels near the Muzaffarnagar bypass. These hotels have been there for years. Didn’t the Kanwar Yatra start here 10 years ago? This was a peaceful procession for years. There was no unrest there. Why is all this happening now?” he asked.
He stressed that the police should do their job and arrest those who are harassing shopkeepers. “These people have created a spectacle. They are not even following the orders of the Supreme Court. How can they enter someone’s hotel? Going to a hotel and asking someone’s religion is wrong. Why isn’t the government doing anything?” he questioned.
Former Samajwadi Party MP Dr ST Hasan condemned the move, saying, “Forcing vendors to reveal their religion through QR payments is no different from terrorist tactics, this is soft terrorism meant to polarize society.”
Order not to target any religion, defends BJP
Despite mounting criticism, BJP spokesperson Sanjay Chaudhry defended the move, stating, “We are not targeting any religion, but pilgrims have the right to know who is cooking their food. QR codes help ensure transparency.”
“This is not a diktat, it is about Hindu pride. ‘Love jihad’, ‘Land jihad’, ‘Food jihad’, this is our warning. If they do not reform, the law will,” he said, emphasising that “This is about Hindu pride and food purity during a religious pilgrimage.”
Kanwar pilgrims vandalise shops
There have been reports of violent incidents involving Kanwar Yatris targeting Muslim-owned shops and vendors, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Hindutva organisation, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers, reportedly scan QR codes at roadside dhabas along the route, questioning vendors about their religion, verifying their identities, and marking stalls they deem “Hindu-friendly” with saffron flags and posters of Hindu deities.
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