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'Attack on Muslim establishments': Mandatory name display in UP, HP sparks fear

Mandatory display of workers’ name in restaurants and shops are 'thinly veiled attack on Muslim establishments' that will eventually lead to their boycott, the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh said while talking to The Guardian

Monday October 14, 2024 5:45 PM, ummid.com News Network

'Attack on Muslim establishments': Mandatory name display in UP, HP sparks fear

[The smile on the faces, a hallmark of Muslim hotel owners, is at the risk of fading away (AI image for representation)]

New Delhi: Mandatory display of workers’ name in restaurants and shops are “thinly veiled attack on Muslim establishments” that will eventually lead to their boycott, the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh said while talking to The Guardian.

The UK’s leading daily in a report dated October 13, 2024, said the Indian Muslims are facing job terminations and business closures following the recent implementation of the discriminatory policy in the two states, which requires restaurants to publicly display the names of all their employees.

“This order is dangerous, it forces us to wear our religion on our sleeve,” The Guardian quoted 28-year-old Tabish Aalam.

“I am sure the government knows this, and that is why it is being exploited”, Tabish, who comes from a long line of specialist chefs in the city of Lucknow known for its traditional recipes and food, said.

Rafiq, owner of a highway restaurant in Muzaffarnagar, UP said he fired his four Muslim employees in July after police demanded to put the names of all workers on a sign outside.

“I had to fire my Muslim staff because I was concerned for their safety following the order,” he said.

“Displaying names makes us vulnerable and a very easy target. If, for instance, there is communal tension that keeps taking place, we will be easily identified as Muslims and targeted”, he added

Rafiq said he had little doubt as to why the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh was enforcing these new rules.

“Displaying names will identify people’s religions, which I suspect is intended to discourage people from eating at Muslim-owned or Muslim-staffed restaurants,” he said.

Calls for economic boycotts of Muslims have been prominent in the state and there have been rising incidents of attacks against Muslim vendors over the past five years.

Last month, the state leader of Bajrang Dal, a right wing Hindu vigilante group, was captured on video at a meeting calling for attendees to pledge:

“I will not buy goods from any Muslim shopkeeper.”

Among the Muslims recently fired from a job as a cook was Idrees Ahmed. Idrees, who was working as cook since last seven years, alleged he was among several Muslim members of staff sacked as a result of the new policy.

“The owner of the restaurant is a Hindu, and most of the other staff members were also Hindu,” Idrees said. “When the order was issued, the owner called me and other Muslim staff members and apologised before asking us to go home.”

Restaurant owners in Muzaffarnagar alleged that only Muslims are being forced to comply.

“The administration is deliberately trying to create a divide,” Mohammad Azeem, 42, who runs a small roadside stall, said.

“Why did they ask me selectively?” he asked.

The ruling BJP however said the policy was to ensure restaurant hygiene, and emphasised that “nobody is being denied permission to work”.

“The government was obligated to take this action after becoming aware of situations in which food was purposefully contaminated,” Praveen Garg, a BJP spokesperson in Uttar Pradesh, said.

“There have been instances where persons from a specific community have been caught polluting meals with dirty items that a Hindu cannot consume”, he alleged.

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