Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh Youth Congress (APYC) has asked Naharlagun extra assistant commissioner (EAC) to reconsider his now infamous order directing the hotels and restaurants to remove all signboards with the word ‘Beef’ on them.
APYC president Tarh Johny in representation to the EAC on Friday said that the order has created restlessness in the minds of the people of the state, especially those living in the Itanagar Capital Region.
Johny said the order should also be re-considered so as to “avoid any kind of communal or religions conflicts in the coming days.”
The APYC said it is a known fact that the citizens of Arunachal Pradesh have been consuming beef since time immemorial and there is also a practice of visiting beef restaurants and hotels among the people to consume beef meat since decades.
“This practice has never hurt the sentiments of any individual or community. In fact, the sudden and unexpected order of the EAC has created restlessness and chaos in the minds of the people,” the Youth Congress leader said, while adding that the word ‘secularism’ has nothing to do with running restaurants and hotels which have ‘beef’ written in their names.
Being in a tribal dominated and beef consuming state, we urge the office of EAC to reconsider its order passed on July 13, the APYC representation read.
Jhony also termed the order as “misuse of magisterial power and an internal injection of the RSS agenda”.
Naharlagun EAC Tamo Dada office had on Wednesday issued an order directing all hotels and restaurants within the administrative boundary of the Naharlagun sub-division to remove signboards displaying ‘beef’ by July 18 next.
The order issued under Section 144 of the CrPC has created a social media uproar.
The order stated that the district administration of Itanagar Capital Region believes in the secular spirit of the Indian Constitution but such open display of the word ‘beef’ on the signboards of hotels and restaurants may hurt the sentiments of some sections of the community and may create animosity between different groups.
The hotels and restaurants have also been warned of ₹2,000 fine if they don’t comply with the order.
EAC Dada has, however, clarified that the order was issued by his office as a “preventive measure so that the people do not make a religious issue out of it in the future and there was no ban on consuming beef.”
The EAC also said that a verbal complaint was received by his office from “a group of people stating that such signboards hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.”
Order kept in abeyance
Meanwhile, a recent order issued by the EAC’s office on Friday afternoon said that the order dated July 13 has been kept in “abeyance” until further notice.
The EAC reasoned his office received several representations from various quarters regarding seeking extension of timeline for compliance.
“Considering the representations, the order dated July 13 is hereby kept in abeyance till further order,” the EAC said.
