New Delhi: Amid a raging controversy over beef in India, minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday, “no restrictions can be put on food habits in a secular country like India. But the sentiments of the majority must be respected in Hindu-majority as well as Christian and Muslim-majority states.”
Mr Rijiju, in the midst of a controversy as reports claimed said he eats beef and nobody could stop him. But on Wednesday, he said, “I never said that I eat beef. I said that we must respect each other’s faith, belief and food habits.”
The MHA later clarified Mr Rijiju was misquoted, and that the minister, responding to questions by civil society groups and the media whether those who eat beef should go to Pakistan, had said India is a secular country and food habits cannot be stopped, but Hindu faith and sentiments must be respected in Hindu-majority states in the same way as other communities have the right in their own dominant states.?
The BJP refused to join in the controversy. When asked about it, party spokesman Sambit Patra said, “As far as the beef ban is concerned, it is a matter of great religious sentiment across the length and breadth of the country. So I would not pull this issue in the political domain?”
