The Uttar Pradesh police directive last week ordering the owners of food stalls and restaurants along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their names and the names of their employees has, not surprisingly, drawn the wrath of cartoonists and satirists.

The police said that the directive, which the Supreme Court stayed on Monday, was issued to “avoid confusion” among devotees.

Muzaffarnagar legislator and state minister Kapil Dev Aggarwal said the problem was not with Muslim-run businesses along the path of the Kanwar Yatra but that they should not name their shops after Hindu deities, reported The Indian Express.

During the Kanwar Yatra, devotees, called Kanwariyas, walk hundreds of kilometres to collect water from the Ganga near Haridwar and carry it back to their home states to offer at temples.

Traditionally, both Muslim and Hindu shop owners have offered the pilgrims refreshments like fruits and water.

Opposition parties as well as members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance had criticised the order, calling it unconstitutional and divisive.

Another alluded to there being a “different” Constitution for some citizens.

The Times of India’s cartoonist Sandeep Adhwaryu referred to how the order had resulted in Muslim workers being fired and shop owners suffering losses.

The parallels with Nazi Germany-era rules were apparent to some who pointed out how Jews were economically boycotted.

One cartoonist pointed out the hypocrisy of enabling a boycott of Muslims even as large numbers of Indians migrate to Muslim-majority West Asian countries in search of jobs.

A historian shared an image of Delhi’s “Khan Chacha” restaurant, which is famous for its rolls, asking if anyone knew that the chain is owned by businessman Navneet Kalra, who, despite the establishment’s name, is not Muslim.

A social media user drew parallels with how the BJP reacted to disclosing the names of electoral bond donors.

The BJP had received crores in donations and had vociferously defended the opaque scheme until the Supreme Court scrapped it in March.

One cartoonist referenced the simmering power tussle in the Uttar Pradesh government after its poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has, since the past few weeks, made cryptic remarks aimed at Chief Minister Adityanath.

Meanwhile, in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, a legislator has demanded that similar orders be issued for all business establishments. Ramesh Mendola, a BJP legislator from Indore, claimed that disclosing the identity of shopkeepers will lead to “healthy competition” and fast development.