On Monday (September 26), a psychiatrist courted controversy after he urged his followers on Twitter to share pictures of meat in a bid to hurt the religious sentiments of the Jain community.
Soumitra Pathare, the Director of the Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, was miffed at the decision of 3 Jain Trusts to move a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Bombay High Court, seeking a ban on ads for non-vegetarian food.
The consulting psychiatrist, therefore, asked his followers to post pictures of ‘non-veg dishes’, in complete disregard to the sentiments of the Jain community, to avenge the actions of the Mumbai-based Jain trusts.
What next?
— Soumitra Pathare 🌻 সৌমিত্র சௌமித்ரா பாடாரே (@netshrink) September 26, 2022
Can the good folks on Twitter please post pictures of “non-veg” dishes !
Before it gets banned. pic.twitter.com/CHhsoNXTGU
In a tweet, Soumitra wrote, “What next? Can the good folks on Twitter please post pictures of “non-veg” dishes! Before it gets banned.” As expected, his followers complied and posted pictures of them eating/cooking non-vegetarian items.
Whether ads for non-veg food should be banned or not is a debate for another day, in recent times, meat has been politicised and used specifically to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus as well as Jains.
Various ‘meat festivals’ including ‘beef festivals’ have been organised by a certain section of society, specifically to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and Jains. It must be mentioned that Jains are a predominantly vegetarian community where some even hold fast to mourn the slaughter of goats on Bakri Eid celebrated by Muslims.
Meat and its politicisation
In June 2019, a beef festival that was supposed to be organised in Kolkata was cancelled after the organisers allegedly received threats from people. The organisers had conceded that they could not ensure the safety of the attendees. In a Facebook post, the Accidental Note said, “If any one person is harmed, we would feel personally responsible, and we can not accept that.
The menu for the ‘Kolkata Beef Festival’, which was eventually changed to ‘Kolkata Beep Festival’ after protests on social media, included some pork dishes as well. As per information received by OpIndia from sources, the menu initially did not include pork when the event was first announced, and it was added later on after Hindus registered their disagreement on social media.
In August 2018, a group of hackers named ‘Team Kerala Cyber Warriors’ hacked the website of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha and posted the recipe for traditional Kerala beef curry. It was in retaliation to the comments of Swami Chakrapani who alleged that the Kerala floods were a consequence of eating beef and disrespecting cows.
Prior to that in May 2017, Youth Congress workers in Kerala carried out the public slaughter of cow. They also organised beef festivals. Hindus consider cows holy and for many Hindus consumption of beef is forbidden. The cow was slaughtered publicly by Youth Congress workers to specifically hurt the religious sentiments of those who hold the cow holy. As have been other ‘beef festivals’.
In September 2015, Shiv Sena had tried to cook chicken outside Jain temple in Mumbai. This was done during the time of Paryushan, the Jain festival where many Jains even abstain from consuming food and water. Jains are predominantly vegetarian community where some even hold fast to mourn the slaughter of goats on Bakri Eid celebrated by Muslims. Similarly, Shiv Sena, too, tried to sell meat on street during Paryushan, with an aim to irk the Jain community.
It is one thing to oppose a ban on non-veg food adss, and another thing to intentionally to hurt their sentiments.
