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'I eat beef, can somebody stop me?' Union minister Rijiju retorts to Naqvi's statement
Minister of state for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, at an event in New Delhi. Sonu Mehta/HT Photo
Minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju has described as “unpalatable” his colleague Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s remarks that those who eat beef should go to Pakistan, and questioned whether anyone could stop him from eating beef.
Rijiju belongs to Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast, where beef is a staple in the diet of several states with large Christian populations. His remarks came four days after Naqvi, the minister of state for minority affairs, justified the ban on cow slaughter.
“I eat beef, I’m from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me? So let us not be touchy about somebody’s practices,” Rijiju said during a visit to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, on Tuesday.
“This is a democratic country. Sometimes, some statements are made which are not palatable,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
“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,” Rijiju said.
Naqvi, one of the most prominent Muslim faces of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had asked people who want to eat beef to go to Pakistan while speaking at a conclave organised by a TV channel last Thursday.
“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. "Those who are dying without eating beef, can go to Pakistan or Arab countries or any other part of world where it is available.”
But Rijiju indicated that laws on issues such as cow slaughter should be made according to the wishes of the people of a particular state.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Rijiju said India is “a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-communal country” and people “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,” he said.
BJP leaders in the northeast, some of them Christians, have often been ambiguous on the issue of banning cow slaughter because of the food habits of the indigenous people.
'I eat beef, can somebody stop me?' Union minister Rijiju retorts to Naqvi's statement
Minister of state for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, at an event in New Delhi. Sonu Mehta/HT Photo
Minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju has described as “unpalatable” his colleague Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s remarks that those who eat beef should go to Pakistan, and questioned whether anyone could stop him from eating beef.
Rijiju belongs to Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast, where beef is a staple in the diet of several states with large Christian populations. His remarks came four days after Naqvi, the minister of state for minority affairs, justified the ban on cow slaughter.
“I eat beef, I’m from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me? So let us not be touchy about somebody’s practices,” Rijiju said during a visit to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, on Tuesday.
“This is a democratic country. Sometimes, some statements are made which are not palatable,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
“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,” Rijiju said.
Naqvi, one of the most prominent Muslim faces of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had asked people who want to eat beef to go to Pakistan while speaking at a conclave organised by a TV channel last Thursday.
“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. "Those who are dying without eating beef, can go to Pakistan or Arab countries or any other part of world where it is available.”
But Rijiju indicated that laws on issues such as cow slaughter should be made according to the wishes of the people of a particular state.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Rijiju said India is “a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-communal country” and people “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,” he said.
BJP leaders in the northeast, some of them Christians, have often been ambiguous on the issue of banning cow slaughter because of the food habits of the indigenous people.
'I eat beef, can somebody stop me?' Union minister Rijiju retorts to Naqvi's statement
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