New Delhi: After the raging meat-ban controversy, Union culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said that he wants a meat ban during Navratri festival.
Expressing support for the meat ban in some states during Prayushan, Sharma said that the Centre would decide on extending meat ban to nine days of Navratri festival. "It will be a political decision. We would want that," Sharma told a news channel adding, "If the sacrifices of a few help maintain the religious sentiments of a section of society, there is no harm in doing this".
Mahesh Sharma, who had earlier stoked controversy by suggesting that India should be cleansed of western influences, also made a strong pitch for making Hindi and Sanskrit languages compulsory in schools. He further added that he was working with the HRD Ministry to incorporate the Ramayana and Mahabharata in schools and that religious text like the Bible and the Quran were not central to India's soul.
However, the minister bluffed reports that BJP was attempting to saffronise governance, and added that the party was merely trying to act in accordance with the massive mandate received during the polls.
