LUCKNOW: On the birth anniversary of Sadhu Thanwardas Lilaram Vaswani, the Uttar Pradesh government has declared a 'no non-veg day' on Saturday.
The Uttar Pradesh government ordered all slaughterhouses and meat shops to remain closed on Saturday, on the birth anniversary of Sadhu Thanwardas Lilaram Vaswani, who advocated for a vegetarian lifestyle.
A circular issued by the Uttar Pradesh government mentioned, "Instructions have been issued from time to time to keep the slaughterhouses and meat shops located in all the local bodies of the State closed on the great festivals of Jayanti, Gandhi Jayanti, Sadhu TL Vaswani, and Shivratri. Likewise, the decision to declare November 25, 2023, the birthday of Sadhu T.L. Vaswani, as a meat-free day and to keep the slaughterhouses and meat shops located in all the urban local bodies of the state closed, has been taken".
"Please ensure strict compliance of the orders in all the urban local bodies," the circular added.
The recent announcement comes amid the controversy over "banning halal".
Recently, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government took a decisive step against the illegal issuance of 'Halal Certificates', and issued an order that forbade the production, storage, distribution, and sale of food products with the halal certification.
The BJP was caught in a controversy, with opposition leaders criticising the move. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for banning Halal products and accused them of creating a rift between communities.
Akhilesh Yadav said, "The BJP is always doing such activities of spreading hate and creating differences. The basic questions are unemployment and price rises. They are discussing another topic. This is their strategy to create a rift between communities. The people understand that all of this is happening under a conspiracy."
Meanwhile, BJP leader Giriraj Singh thanked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the investigation on 'Halal Products'.