Thiruvananthapuram: After 19 long years, young Congress legislator V. T. Balram has broken his vegetarian vow. He said he was eating beef to powerfully mark his protest against the Union government's attempts to impose food habits suited to “brahminical nationalism”.
During the demonstration posted on Facebook, Mr Balram said he had forgotten the taste of beef as he had not relished meat, fish or egg since he left the campus. The venue was 60th birthday celebrations of KSU in Kochi late Tuesday evening. The video has since gone viral.
In the video, Dr Mathew Kuzhalnadan, former national general secretary of Youth Congress, was seen serving him the beef. The video has hashtags “InclusiveIndia” and “AgainstBrahminicalNationalism”.
He says he chose this venue to say goodbye to vegetarianism as KSU has been at the forefront of staging various such demonstrations. “I wish to be a part of the fight against the slaughter ban," he says.
"I had stopped having non-vegetarian food during 1998. Now I feel that food too has got politics which I wish to highlight here at the KSU anniversary meet.”
He also went on to add that now when the BJP government was standing for the brahminical and corporate interests, "beef politics" has taken centre stage in Kerala.
Mr Kuzhalnadan said, in a lighter vein, that he was feeling sad because he was instrumental in changing the food habit of his friend. It had some 239,000 views, more than 3,000 shares and 18,000 likes in a day. Many have also commented on it.
