‘Food has no religion’: Kerala minister responds to beef row

The tourism department had tweeted a picture of ‘beef ularthiyathu’, a popular dish from the state, on Wednesday on its official Twitter handle.

Two days after Kerala’s tourism department courted controversy by tweeting a recipe of a beef dish on Makara Sankranti, a day considered auspicious by Hindus, minister Kadakampally Surendran came down heavily on critics.

Known as the poor man’s meat, around 60% of the Kerala’s population eats beef. Apart from Muslims and Christians, a majority of Hindus also eat dishes made of red meat. (Stock Photo/ Representative Image)

“Giving a communal colour to an advertisement is deplorable. The tourism department has no intention to hurt the religious feelings of anyone. After all, food has no religion. Some communal elements are whipping up passion deliberately,” tourism minister Surendran said on Friday adding that communalising such issues were highly condemnable.

The tourism department had tweeted a picture of ‘beef ularthiyathu’, a popular dish from the state, on Wednesday on its official Twitter handle. Tourism officials later clarified that it was a mere coincidence and earlier also they put such ads.

“Tender chunks of beef, slow-roasted with aromatic spices, coconut pieces, and curry leaves. A recipe for the most classic dish, Beef Ularthiyathu, the stuff of legends, from the land of spices, Kerala” the tweet with a link to an article on the department’s website, said.

Soon many social media users accused the Left Front government of issuing the advertisements deliberately on an auspicious day to hurt the religious feelings of Hindu.

Many leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad also echoed the same view.

“It seems the Kerala government has declared a war on Hindus. The government is taking a ride on Hindu sentiments by glorifying beef on Makara Sankranti day,” senior BJP leader from Karnataka Shobha Karandlaje said.

The VHP’s spokesperson Vinod Bansal also slammed the timing of the advertisement.

“The Kerala Tourism must understand that you can’t promote anything like this by hurting religious sentiments of millions of tourists who worship cows,” he tweeted.

Though the tweet evoked sharp reactions outside, it failed to make much noise in Kerala, where beef amounts to 60% of the total meat consumed.

Known as the poor man’s meat, around 60% of the state’s population eats beef. Apart from Muslims and Christians, a majority of Hindus also eat dishes made of red meat.

After the kitchen of Kerala House in New Delhi was raided by the police in 2015 to probe a complaint that beef was being served at its canteen, it triggered loud protest in the state.

The Kerala government and the canteen authorities had denied the charge, saying it was buffalo meat. And to mock the Centre, left-backed students’ outfits had conducted beef festivals on many campuses across the state.