<p>It is ironic that restrictions are sought to be imposed on people’s right to eat what they want to and where to live on a day that commemorates the country’s independence from colonial rule. Some civic bodies have imposed a ban on the sale of meat on Independence Day, triggering acrimony. </p><p>In Maharashtra, civic bodies including Kalyan, Dombivli, Malegaon, and Nagpur have announced such a ban. In Telangana, the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has ordered the closure of meat shops on I-Day and the following day, which happens to be Janmashtami. </p><p>Governments and political parties have tried to distance themselves from the move. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Ajit Pawar have said that the government did not approve of the ban. But the diktat exists and would be enforced. </p><p>The ban defies logic and is against everything the I-Day represents to the citizens. The claim in some locations that the ban is in the interest of “public order” is wrong. Apart from curbing the right to food, the ban denies the right to work and to earn one’s livelihood on a day the country won its freedoms and rights.</p>.<p>A Kolkata resident and his minor son were reportedly denied stay at a hotel in Noida this week because they were from Bengal. The hotel managers claimed that they had instructions from the police to refuse admission to people from Bangladesh, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir till August 15 for “security reasons”. </p><p>The guests’ clarification that they were from Bengal did not gain them entry. The police denied having issued any such instructions. But the incident is seen in the context of the Delhi Police’s controversial notification last month which equated Bengali with “Bangladeshi language”. Placing people from select states under watch is against the spirit of the Independence Day. If there was any intelligence input that called for caution, it had to be handled at that level. It was wrong to create a discriminatory situation where the citizens’ right to stay anywhere in the country was denied.</p>.<p>The Partition Horrors Remembrance Day which is now observed on the eve of the Independence Day, ostensibly to remember the tragedy of the Partition and the pain and suffering it caused, also conflicts with the Independence Day spirit. </p><p>The Partition was about hatred and division, while independence denotes harmony and unity. An annual reminder of the horrors can only do harm. It harks back to the past on a day we should be looking forward, with hope and a sense of togetherness.</p>
<p>It is ironic that restrictions are sought to be imposed on people’s right to eat what they want to and where to live on a day that commemorates the country’s independence from colonial rule. Some civic bodies have imposed a ban on the sale of meat on Independence Day, triggering acrimony. </p><p>In Maharashtra, civic bodies including Kalyan, Dombivli, Malegaon, and Nagpur have announced such a ban. In Telangana, the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has ordered the closure of meat shops on I-Day and the following day, which happens to be Janmashtami. </p><p>Governments and political parties have tried to distance themselves from the move. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Ajit Pawar have said that the government did not approve of the ban. But the diktat exists and would be enforced. </p><p>The ban defies logic and is against everything the I-Day represents to the citizens. The claim in some locations that the ban is in the interest of “public order” is wrong. Apart from curbing the right to food, the ban denies the right to work and to earn one’s livelihood on a day the country won its freedoms and rights.</p>.<p>A Kolkata resident and his minor son were reportedly denied stay at a hotel in Noida this week because they were from Bengal. The hotel managers claimed that they had instructions from the police to refuse admission to people from Bangladesh, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir till August 15 for “security reasons”. </p><p>The guests’ clarification that they were from Bengal did not gain them entry. The police denied having issued any such instructions. But the incident is seen in the context of the Delhi Police’s controversial notification last month which equated Bengali with “Bangladeshi language”. Placing people from select states under watch is against the spirit of the Independence Day. If there was any intelligence input that called for caution, it had to be handled at that level. It was wrong to create a discriminatory situation where the citizens’ right to stay anywhere in the country was denied.</p>.<p>The Partition Horrors Remembrance Day which is now observed on the eve of the Independence Day, ostensibly to remember the tragedy of the Partition and the pain and suffering it caused, also conflicts with the Independence Day spirit. </p><p>The Partition was about hatred and division, while independence denotes harmony and unity. An annual reminder of the horrors can only do harm. It harks back to the past on a day we should be looking forward, with hope and a sense of togetherness.</p>
