The cook at a roadside eatery in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district was chased and his colleagues were attacked by a group of kanwariyas from Haryana on Friday over the alleged use of onions in the food served to them. The kanwar yatris avoid consuming onion and garlic till offering water from River Ganga to Lord Shiva at their native places, a report said.
The trouble began at ‘Tau Hukkewalah Haryanvi Tourist Dhaba’ in Muzaffarnagar's Sisauna block on the Delhi-Haridwar highway after the kanwariyas reportedly found slices of onion in the vegetable curry. The furious devotees created a ruckus at the roadside shop and reportedly damaged a refrigerator and furniture at the establishment. They also assaulted the staff at the dhaba before running after the cook who tried to flee, news reports said.
Meanwhile, the leader of the kanwariyas told the Indian Express that they had asked the cook if he was using garlic and onion in the kitchen before ordering the food. They decided to eat at the dhaba based on the cook's assurance that the said forbidden items were not being used at the shop. Finding onion slices despite their pre-dining queries reportedly made the gang angry.
A team of UP police reached the spot and brought the situation under control by asking the kanwariyas to resume their journey, the IE report said. The owner of the dhaba told the daily despite running the eatery for years, he had no idea that onion was also on the forbidden list for the devotees.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had ordered that all eateries along the Kanwar route must display the names of their owners. The order has been slammed by opposition parties and members of the ruling alliance, who say it targets Muslim traders.
The Kanwar Yatra will commence on the first day of Sawan (Shravan) on Monday and will culminate on August 2 as holy Ganga water will be offered to Lord Shiva.
