‘Nothing but goondagardi’: Sardhana food cart owner says threats over non-veg food unprecedented

Sajid followed the instructions and started selling soya bean biryani instead. On Saturday, a group of people vandalised his cart alleging he was selling non-vegetarian food. “It was a regular day of business for me. Some people came and they asked what food I was selling. I told them its soya biryani. They kept saying I was selling non-veg which was against the rule. By the time I realised, my entire stall had been flipped. They were abusing us again and again,” Sajid, 21, told the Indian Express

The Sardhana police on Saturday booked Sachin Khatik, the state chief of Sangeet Som Sena linked to former BJP legislator Sangeet Som, and six others for trying to disturb communal peace after they allegedly vandalised the food cart claiming that Sajid was selling mutton biryani. The outfit had earlier reportedly called for a ban on the sale of meat and non-vegetarian food in Sardhana during the nine-day Navratri festival that began on Saturday.

Sajid with his brother earlier lived closer to Meerut City and shifted to Sardhana a few years ago to sell food. He said before Saturday, there would be oral communication about not selling non-vegetarian items during Navratri but there was no disturbance. “This is nothing but goondagardi. These people came and threw around our stuff. We even lost around Rs 15,000 that was in our collection box. This is not the first time there is a Navratri here. Earlier, we would not sell on the street side but now we are being threatened. It is unprecedented,” Sajid said.

Even as Sajid recalled his ordeal, a customer came up to the stall asking what biryani he was selling. Sajid assured the person that it was vegetarian and it would remain so till the Navratris were over. “Our sales go down during Ramzan. But with this, we barely have any sales. Our customers belong to other religions as well. And many want to eat non-veg too. But now it seems, things have changed,” said Sajid.

According to the police, they have not arrested anyone yet. “We have received a complaint from the food seller. It is being investigated. There is no written order, we have only made oral communication that meat should not be sold during Navratra. For general information purposes, it has been communicated through oral instructions,” said Laxman Verma, SHO Sardhana Police Station.

Samajwadi Party leader Atul Pradhan, who defeated Sangeet Som, also an accused in a Muzaffarnagar riots case, in the Assembly elections from Sardhana, his wife, and party supporters met with the administration on Tuesday to expedite action in the case.