Hindu extremists in UP harass food vendor for selling biriyani

Bareilly: Hindu extremists came around a food vendor in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly and made a ruckus alleging that he was selling biriyani using "Shubh Deepawali" and "Shubh Labh" stickers pasted on his shop. The Hindu group members started the issue after they came to know that the shopkeeper was from a minority community. They accused him of promoting his business and hiding his true identity by using a Hindu symbol and the name of the shop.

A video of the incident is taking rounds on social media, and it features police personnel, too, who did not even care to intervene but stood idle. The incident reportedly happened before a roadside Biriyani stall located in the Civil Lines in Barielly. The shop was called Chaman Fast Food Corner, and there were stickers with "Shubh Labh" and "Shubh Deepawali" on it.

The extremists in the video were confronting the shopkeeper, accusing him of hiding his true identity. They reminded him that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered shopkeepers to write the names of the owners of the food joints in their stalls and shops. They also said that the shopkeeper was using Hindu religious symbols inappropriately, and it would incite communal tension.

The confronters have eaten the Biriyani, as they say in the video. They said that they could not eat the food touched by the vendor. They asked why he had put up a board with a Hindu name and why he had not told the confronters even after he had seen their 'Tilak' (a religious symbol on the forehead). They said that the vendor tricked and fed them.

The confronters continued by saying that the vendor had written pure veg biryani, but he could not write it.

"We cannot eat Biryani served by you. You have hurt my religious sentiments," Free Press Journal translated one of the confronters shouted in Hindi.

However, the shopkeeper told the extremists that they must have enquired about his religion before eating biriyani at his shop.

All this time, the policeman who was around remained a mute spectator. Also, the police started an inquiry into the incident, registering a case against the shopkeeper.