Yogi’s Directive: ‘Ban meat, liquor near holy sites in Mathura’

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said he will direct the Mathura administration to prepare a roadmap to impose a ban on meat and liquor in the vicinity of seven Hindu pilgrimage sites in the district.

He made the announcement in Mathura on Monday while addressing an event on the occasion of Janmashtami (Hindu deity Krishna’s birthday).

The chief minister said, “Yahaan ke saat sthalon ko teerth sthal ghoshit kiya. Aur teerth sthal ghoshit karne ke baad, ab yahaan pe sabki tamanna hai ki in sabhi shetron mein kisi bhi prakaar ka madya ya maans sevan na ho. Aur yeh hona chahiye. Prashasan se kahunga ki iski ghoshna yojna banaye. [We declared the seven religious sites as pilgrimage sites. And after the announcement, everyone here wants that at these seven places no liquor or meat is consumed. I am telling the administration to prepare a roadmap for this].”

Adityanath said those involved in liquor and meat businesses near these pilgrimage sites would be rehabilitated.

“We will make arrangements for their rehabilitation. And especially, those who are in the professions will need training. They should be counselled. It will be good if those people involved in these fields are given small stalls for milk production. They can sell milk there and this land, which gave a new direction to the country and the world, gets ready for a situation like the old times,” he added.

Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal told The Indian Express on Tuesday that the roadmap sought by the chief minister was being prepared. “We will make the details about it public when the proposal is made,” he added.

Meanwhile, at Monday’s event, Adityanath took a dig at Opposition parties saying they “avoided Hindu festivals during the rule of the previous governments”.

The chief minister added, “Today, there is a crowd of people. Earlier, no chief minister or a member of the state’s council of ministers or even an MLA came to wish you on your festivals. If you exclude the BJP people, everyone ran away [from the festivals]. Best wishes must be given for all festivals…People were scared. It was one-sided. No one used to come to Hindu festivals and no one became a participant.

“Restrictions used to be imposed separately. There used to be problems with light, water, and celebrations. No one would arrange cleaning of places…Now, there are no restrictions and you can celebrate with full fervour. This is change.”