Owner 'forced' to change name of vegetarian dhaba in UP after threats

AGRA: A 60-year-old dhaba owner, Mohd Saleem, changed the name of his 20-year-old vegetarian eatery after "repeated threats from a section of the majority community, including a seer". Saleem, who runs 'Sangam Shudh Shakahari Bhojnalaya' on Delhi-Dehradun Road in Rampuri under Civil Lines limits of Muzaffarnagar, said he was forced to take the decision after Swami Yashveer Maharaj, a seer of a local ashram, allegedly issued a "public warning to Muslim owners operating business with names of Hindu deities or pilgrimage sites".It was renamed 'Saleem Dhaba' on Friday and the owner has written his name as 'Proprietor Saleem Thakur'. When asked about it, he said, "We are Muslim Rajputs therefore I have used Thakur with the name."Saleem told TOI on Sunday: "This dhaba was started by my father years ago, but I was left with no choice after the warning from Swami and others. I just want to live in peace and so decided to take this step voluntarily. I don't want this matter to escalate and create communal disharmony and tension.People of both communities have been living together here for decades."Swami Yasveer allegedly released a video warning owners, particularly Muslims, to rename their shops. In the purported clip, he could be heard "threatening to take matters in his own hands if the practice continued and called upon his followers to take to the streets to protect Sanatan Dharma". The Swami could be also heard purportedly giving an "ultimatum", saying: "They have time till 10am on Sept 7 to remove the names". The 'video' was widely-shared online later and created apprehension among some minority traders and eatery owners.DSP (Phugana), Sant Kumar, who subsequently met the seer, said, "The matter is in the SC and its guidelines will be followed at all cost."SDM Nikita Sharma added, "We've told Swami not to take steps on their own and escalate the matter."Notably, during kanwar yatra, local administration had issued an advisory directing shopkeepers to temporarily put the owner's name on their business units. However, the SC ruling brought relief to these traders and shop owners, including Saleem, who reverted their establishments to their original names.