NEW DELHI: The Delhi Minorities Commission on Thursday issued show-cause notices to the
mayors and commissioners of the three municipal corporations in the national capital, asking them to explain the rationale behind an unofficial ban on meat shops during Navratri.
The panel took suo motu cognisance of the matter based on news reports. Zakir Khan, the chairperson of the Delhi Minorities Commission, asked the mayors and commissioners of the three municipal
corporations to file their response with all the necessary enclosures supporting their contentions and submit a detailed report on urgent basis. He also asked them to appear before the panel on April 8.
Media reports about the meat ban showed that the mayor is acting as a law unto himself, the minorities commission said. “What he is calling for violates the basic (freedoms)guaranteed in the Constitution,” he said.The notice by the Commission further read, “Such proclamation can also incite bad reactions. Senior authorities and the courts should step in and put a stop to such behaviour.
We hereby ask you to explain forthwith on which rule and regulation it has been decided by you to ban/shutdown the meat shops during Navratri.”On Monday, the mayors of south and east Delhi had asked the officials to shut meat shops during the nine-day Hindu festival.
Although the civic bodies have not yet issued any official orders in this regard, the letters from the mayors caused fear and uncertainty among meat shop owners in the national capital. The letters also triggered intense social media debates across the country The mayor of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has not called for such a ban till now. Navratri began on April 2 and will go on till April 11.