Gurgaon: More than 200 activists of Shiv Sena party forcibly closed around 500 meat and chicken shops, including KFC outlets, in Gurgaon in Haryana state, a satellite town of the national capital.
The rightwing Hindu activists said the ban will last during Navratra when Hindus observe nine days fast.
This follows a crackdown on illegal slaughter houses in neighboring Uttar Pradesh state.
The crackdown in Uttar Pradesh has caused trouble for meat sellers. Its success has probably encouraged other Hindu radical groups and political parties to take up similar activities in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, reports mailtoday.india.today.in.
Gurgaon, which was recently renamed Gurugram by Haryana’s BJP government, is the latest to follow the trend.
The Shiv Sainiks have also served notices to non-veg shop owners and threatened them to shut their outlets every Tuesday in future.
“We have served notices to hotels, dhabas, eateries serving non-vegetarian food, apart from raw meat and chicken shops owners to keep shops shut during Navratri and on Tuesdays. One will have to face consequence in case he does not follow instructions,” said Ritu Raj, general secretary and spokesperson of Shiv Sena Gurugram wing.
The Shiv Sena activists assembled at Palam Vihar and forced to shut meat markets and Muslim dhabas after which they forced to shut shops in Surat Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Sector 5, 9, Pataudi Chowk, Jacobpura, Sadar Bazaar, Khandsa Anaj Mandi, bus stand and then to Sector 14 market as well.
“We have asked customers of KFC to cooperate with us in vacating the place. We have forced employees to turn electricity off inside and pull shutters down for public,” said Gautam Saini, president of Shiv Sena Gurugram.
Saini claimed that they have complete support of other local traders and they are complemented us for the drive.
Sources said Sena has also approached police and civil administration and that they have supported it. The administration was quite aware of the move and hence they have not objected at any point despite the initiative of Sena was against the law.
Manish Sehgal, ACP, (Crime) and spokesperson of Gurugram police told MAIL TODAY however, that he was not aware of anything. The non-vegetarian shops with valid licenses are entitled to commercially operate and anyone forcing them for closure would face legal action.