Food for thought
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 14 2015 -
Amidst the raging debate on intolerance and eating beef in India, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had recently stated that no minister has the power to direct any citizen on what is to be eaten.
He remarked that discussing the food habits of the citizens was “not good for the country’s health.”
Rijiju made the comment while participating in a television discussion on issues in the Northeast and in response to a question on whether or not the BJP members and Members of Parliament should be sensitised about eating patterns and culinary traditions of the country as a large number of people in Northeast region consumed beef.
During the discussion, Kiren Rijiju recalled an incident in Mizoram when he went there for an interaction with the civil society organisations.
He said the people of the State were agitated over the news of banning beef and similar attempts on restricting the food habits of the people.
Someone from within the Mirzo society asked him, “We all eat beef. So should we go to Pakistan?”
It is more than obvious that the union minister will not tell the Mizos to go to Pakistan since they ate beef.
What he did instead was to religiously quote the Constitution of India and explain to the people of the Northeast that there are protective constitutional measures for safeguarding the minorities, tribes and weaker sections of the people.
BJP leader and Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had in May this year remarked that those who cannot live without eating beef should go to Pakistan.
The statement drew severe criticism from several quarters.
Under current circumstances, one should note that the history of beef and identity politics in India with special reference to the Northeastern region has been quite thought provoking.
It may be recalled that Naga National Council (NNC) had submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission on January 10, 1929.
The NNC while seeking separate independent homeland for Nagaland, the memorandum had also given an essential and primordial rationale for its claim based on Naga identity.
The memorandum mentioned that the Nagas were looked “down upon” by the Hindus for “beef” and the Muslims for “our pork” and by both for “our want in education.”
With such stance even before the dawn of Indian Independence, the effort to bring in legislation on countrywide ban on slaughter of cows or restricting the food habit of a community can indeed be an emotive issue.
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