HARIDWAR: Following a local Vishwa Hindu Parisha (VHP) leader’s self-immolation attempt outside a police station earlier this week in protest against meat shops operating in Jwalapur locality of Haridwar, the saffron organization and Bajrang Dal on Wednesday threatened to launch an agitation in the holy city if shops are not closed immediately.
Haridwar district VHP president, Nitin Gautam, said, “We do not want anything less than closure of all meat shops running without a license. If this is not done, the administration should be prepared to face a backlash.” The administration’s assurance that action will be taken against the shops did not satisfy the Bajarang Dal leaders. They complained that the matter had been brought to the administration’s notice several times, but to no avail.
He added, “Bajrang Dal leaders met the district magistrate, senior superintendent of police and municipal commissioner for action in the matter on Tuesday, but they only assured action and did nothing.”
Referring to a resolution adopted by the then nagar palika parishad (NPP) Haridwar on March 27, 2003 to close the shops, he said that the civic body failed to implement it.
“Subsequent resolutions passed by it also met the same fate,” he said, adding that the nagar nigam had a few years ago decided to shift the shops to Sarai village on the city’s outskirts, but the plan is yet to be executed.
According to sources, while sale of liquor, egg, meat and fish had been prohibited in the holy city since long, a law for it was enacted in 1916 by the NPP which was established in 1868. According to the NPP bylaws, there can be no liquor shop within 7 km of municipal limits. It allowed only four meat shops to be opened at Jwalapur. The VHP has been since decades demanding ban on the shops which number about 150 today, Gautam said.
Haridwar tehsildar, Sunaina Rana, raided the meat market on Wednesday and pasted notices outside the shops warning “a penalty of Rs 1 lakh if the shops are not registered with the food safety department.” Rana told TOI, “Dozens of shops were found operating illegally. They have been given a week’s time to get themselves registered. Otherwise, they will have to face action as per rules.”
Meanwhile, Charanjit Pahwa, the VHP leader who had reportedly suffered around 40% burns is undergoing treatment at the ICU of a Dehradun hospital.
Police have registered a case of attempted suicide against Pahwa and they were trying to identify those who allegedly instigated him for self-immolation.
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