Bengaluru, Oct 29 (TNN): Adding fuel to the fire that has engulfed the nation, chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday attacked the anti-beef eating policy and speculations of the right wing organizations behind the Dadri killing.
At the Karnataka Youth Congress General Body meeting, Siddaramaiah said the anti-beef eating policy was absurd and that BJP and its affiliated parties cannot take the individual rights of people to eat the meat of cow.
"Till date I have never eaten cow meat. But if it suits my palette and if I want to eat beef, I will eat it. Nobody can stop me," he said.
Siddaramaiah recalled the recent raid by the Delhi police on Kerala Bhavan, on the issue of the State bhavan storing beef.
"I was still in Delhi when the police entered the Kerala Bhavan suggesting that beef was being circulated for food. And this, without the knowledge of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. How can anybody stop people eating what they want?" he questioned.
Siddaramaiah raked up the Dadri killing, the murder of the victim Akalaq as being "inhumane" and suggesting the growing intolerance in the nation.
"The right wing parties including Bajarang Dal, Sri Rama Sene, Vishwa Hindu Parishat etc. are all showing growing levels of intolerance under the BJP regime at the Centre. The beef eating controversy is part of this growing intolerance in the country," he said.
'Salon on Tuesday'
He said it was baffling that the communal forces had made attempts to shut down hair salons on Tuesdays as it was considered to be “inauspicious” to visit them on that day.
“They say we shouldn’t go to the salon on Tuesdays. But I am of the belief that Tuesday is an auspicious day. I go to the salon on Tuesdays. This is how they are trying to snatch the rights of others,” he added.
He asked the Youth Congress leaders and workers to draw up an action plan to combat the communal forces and their hidden agendas and said that he would extend complete support to the organisation. The Youth Congress should “expose” the BJP’s agenda.
Not only is the saffron brigade effecting polarisation, it is also creating inequality, he said.
Recounting the recent atrocities, including the Dadri lynching and the burning of two dalit children, killings of M M Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, Siddaramaiah attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking action against his Cabinet colleague V K Singh for his controversial comment on the killing of two children of a Dalit family in Haryana.
Taking a dig at BJP leader K S Eshwarappa, Siddaramaiah said that while he had started the ‘Ahinda’ movement, the former had taken cue from him and had started the ‘Hinda’ movement.
Indian Youth Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja urged Siddaramaiah to entrust more responsibilities to the Youth Congress leaders.
With DHNS Inputs