The Uttar Pradesh government has declared Saturday as a ‘no non-veg day’ in observance of Sadhu Thanwardas Lilaram Vaswani’s birth anniversary.
In adherence to this directive, all slaughterhouses and meat shops are instructed to remain closed on this day, honoring Vaswani, a proponent of a vegetarian lifestyle.
The government circular said that such closures align with previous instructions to shutter slaughterhouses and meat shops across the state during significant festivals such as Jayanti, Gandhi Jayanti, Sadhu TL Vaswani, and Shivratri.
The circular specifically states, “Likewise, the decision to declare November 25, 2023, the birthday of Sadhu T.L. Vaswani, as a meat-free day and to keep the slaughterhouses and meat shops located in all the urban local bodies of the state closed, has been taken.” The document emphasises the imperative of strict compliance with these orders in all urban local bodies.
This announcement follows the backdrop of the contentious debate surrounding the “banning of halal.”
The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government recently issued orders prohibiting the production, storage, distribution, and sale of food products with halal certification, sparking criticism from opposition leaders.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of sowing discord between communities, asserting that the focus should be on issues like unemployment and inflation rather than divisive policies.
