UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath questions Oppn’s silence on Kerala beef fests

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said the organisations that talk about secularism are mum on the Kerala beef fests.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday questioned the Opposition’s silence on Kerala’s beef fests organised in protest agaisnt the Centre’s decision banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. (PTI Photo)

Leaders of the Congress and the CPI(M) slaughtered a calf in Kannur in public view, cooked its meat and distributed it during a “Beef Fest” to protest against the BJP-led central government’s new rules.

“I saw yesterday, how even after the government’s order there was a ‘beef party’ held in Kerala,” said the chief minister at a public felicitation function by Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Sunday evening.

“I feel there is a lot of talk in the country to respect each other’s feelings and several organisations demand this in the name of secularism. But why are they mum on the Kerala incident?” said Adityanath.

On Sunday evening, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi condemned the incident, terming it “barbaric and completely unacceptable”.

At the ABVP programme in Lucknow, chief minister Adityanath called for quality and equal education for all.

“The British tried to divide and rule. Even after independence, there has been a conspiracy to divide people in the name of communities,” he said.

The chief minister said his government has decided to bring about a change in the education pattern. “If the ABVP brings a proposal on equality of education, we shall think about it.”