"Trying To Pit One Community Against Another": BJP MP On Newspaper Editorial

An editorial in a newspaper on the ban on non-vegetarian food in Gujarat's Palitana has prompted a sharp response from a BJP MP, who has accused the daily of trying to pit one minority community against another and demanded an apology. 

In a strongly worded letter to the editor of Deccan Herald on Saturday, Rajya Sabha MP Lahar Singh Siroya said, "I am surprised that your newspaper is advocating the cause of one big-numbered minority community over another small-numbered minority community. What you are doing is also majoritarianism in our eyes. Do the Jains not have the simple right to practice their faith and beliefs of non-violence in their own holy town?"

In its editorial, titled 'Meat ban disregards majority food culture', Deccan Herald commented on the ban on selling or consuming non-vegetarian food in Palitana, a prominent Jain pilgrimage site, and said that it was imposed at the behest of the community. 

Noting that places like Kurukshetra in Haryana and Haridwar in Uttarakhand have also placed restrictions on non-vegetarian restaurants and the open sale of meat, fish and eggs, it said, "These bans disproportionately impact the Muslim community, which supplies meat and poultry, and the majority population, which consumes non-vegetarian food. It is worth noting that Jains abstain from onions, potatoes, and all root vegetables, while Muslims do not eat pork... Food is inherently a personal choice, and imposing one's dietary preferences on others is fundamentally unfair. Everyone should have the freedom to choose their food."

"Such political high-handedness disregards the dietary practices of a vast majority of people, including Muslims, Christians, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBCs, who, generally speaking, consume non-vegetarian food. Many upper-caste communities like Bhumihars and Rajputs include non-vegetarian items in their daily diet," the editorial added. 

Accusing the newspaper of explicitly targeting Jain culture and one its holiest pilgrimage centres, Mr Siroya, who is an MP from Karnataka, said the Muslim community has "greatly respected" Jain saints and sentiments. 

"We have lived in harmony. A newspaper should not attempt to create discord between the two communities to prove its misplaced liberalism. Again, Palitana is a small town and not a city as you misrepresent to your readers, to deliberately make the problem look and sound big," he wrote. 

"I have been a reader of the Deccan Herald for decades and have great respect for its noble founders. But I feel with this editorial the newspaper has tried to do something that it usually stays away from play one minority community against another minority community. I strongly protest this attitude and the least I will expect from you is an honest apology. You have hurt my sentiments and that of my community," the MP added.