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I eat beef and nobody can stop me, says Indian minister

Kiren Rijiju’s statement comes days after Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that those who eat beef should go to Pakistan

Web Desk May 27, 2015

File photo of Kiren Rijiju. PHOTO: AFP

Days after an Indian minister said that those who want to eat beef can move to Pakistan, India's Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju lashed out at his colleague, sayingthat he eats beef and 'nobody can stop him from doing so'.

“I eat beef. I’m from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me? So let us not be touchy about somebody’s practices,” Rijiju said.

“This is a democratic country. Sometimes, some statements are made which are not palatable,” the minister said as he lashed out at Indian Minister of State for Parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Read: Go to Pakistan if you can't live without beef, says BJP minister

“If a Mizo Christian says that this is the land of Jesus, why should someone have a problem in Punjab or Haryana? We have to honour the sentiments of each place and each location,” he said.

“If Maharashtra is Hindu majority, or if Gujarat is Hindu majority, Madhya Pradesh is Hindu majority, if they are to make laws which are conducive to the Hindu faith, let them be." Rijuju went on to say.

"But in our place, in our state where we are majority, where we feel whatever steps we take, you know, laws which are conducive to our beliefs, it should be. So they also should not have a problem with the way we live, and we also should not have a problem with the way they live,” he added.

Read: India police seek cow 'mugshots' to enforce beef ban

“This country is a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-communal country. We must respect each other’s practices. There cannot be any force on anybody about your practices, your faith. So if anybody makes a statement which is forcing or imposing your belief, your faith, your practices on another community, another believer, it is not good,” Rijiju said.

Earlier last week, Indian Minister of State for Parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, stood firmly in support of the ban on cow slaughter in India, saying those who wish to eat beef should go to Pakistan.

Read:’Reasonable’ restriction on beef does not violate fundamental rights: Maharashtra govt

“It is not about loss or profit … it is an issue of faith and belief. It is a sensitive issue for the Hindus,” Naqvi said at “Manthan” conclave organised by TV channel Aaj Tak.

“Those who are dying without eating beef can go to Pakistan or Arab countries or any other part of world where it is available,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The Indian Express.

COMMENTS (16)

Lion King | 9 years ago | Reply @vijay: Oh yeah just go to Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Albania, Bosnia for example and you'd find pork being sold right beside Halal beef and mutton. You people lack knowledge of the world and consider your over congested india as your little world

Person | 9 years ago | Reply @vijay. Because it's an Islamic country where Islamic laws apply. At least, they are not hypocritical like Indian state that claims to be a secular democracy. I guess it is more Hindustan than India after all.

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Beef lover | 9 years ago | Reply Hmm...To eat beef or not to eat beef? That is the fundamental question in the secular democracy of Hindustan.

vijay | 9 years ago | Reply Let be clear in any islamic country u can not slghter or sell pork.

zaid | 9 years ago | Reply dats like a man!!

Lost | 9 years ago | Reply Ooohhh, going across states to eat beef, sounds exotic... That should help the businesses in availability areas

the eddy | 9 years ago | Reply @Rahul: Even I am a Hindu & I am dying to eat beef.

Sun Tzu | 9 years ago | Reply There are millions of Hindus who eat beef. Try looking in Kerala, Assam and NE to start with. The minister who made the anti-beef remarks is unaware of eating habits.

wb | 9 years ago | Reply If beef is banned as a rule in Arunachal Pradesh, then even Kiren will not get beef to eat. Again, we need to use common sense here. According to the sensitives of majority the rules of any country is made. Just because Chinese and other East Asians eat horse, doesn't mean USA should lift ban on Horse meat sale. And it is not curbing the rights of anyone.

Arun Rathore | 9 years ago | Reply I love beef. If you read the Vedas, all of them, it is clear that in those days the rich ate beef. Stop this Brahman-led edict.

sops | 9 years ago | Reply G.DIN there is a fundamental difference, Pakistan is a muslim state hence laws are informed by the muslim religion whereas India claims to be a secular democracy wherein a particular religion should not dictate the laws. hence restriction on eating beef ought not be dictated by hindus to large minorities such as muslims, christains etc..it should be left to choice.

Rawalpindi Kid | 9 years ago | Reply @G. Din: You are sadly mistaken. Minorities should not be forced to accept and follow the majority's religious beliefs. For your information, christians and hindus etc. are not forbidden in Pakistan from eating pork or drinking alchohol. Farmers regularly kill wild hogs in Pakistan to protect their crops and give them away to christians (mostly foreigners), and hotels are allowed to serve alchohol to non-muslims. If India claims to be a secular country then it has no right to devise and enforce one religion's laws onto others. Decide if you are a Hindi country or a secular one. You cannot speak from both sides of yoru mouth.

G. Din | 9 years ago | Reply "There cannot be any force on anybody about your practices, your faith. " We must respect each other's faith. In the end, in a Democracy, it is the majority that prevails. It may be unfair to the minority but that is how the game is played. That applies to Muslims and pseudo-Muslims in India with respect to beef and Hindus and Christians in Pakistan with respect to pork. Chinese have found the best via media. They eat anything that moves - dogs, cats, snakes etc. you name it!

Gireesh V(A Indian Hindu) | 9 years ago | Reply I appreciate his saying. We should accept others practices. No one should poke ones nose in others matters. We need more such public figures here in India. Indians are largely secular no one can change it. Because its in our blood.

Rahul | 9 years ago | Reply I am an Indian and a Hindu by birth. I eat beef and surprisingly still remain Hindu. May be the fact that I eat Pork too has helped me achieve this miracle.

Stranger | 9 years ago | Reply Bravo !!!!

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