‘Bengalis will eat what they traditionally eat’: Samik Bhattacharya rejects calls to avoid non-veg

KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya on Monday made it clear that Bengalis’ traditional dietary and cultural habits cannot be changed with proposals made by any sadhu or monk from outside.

Rubbishing the calls of the self-styled seer Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, who is the head of Bageshwar Dham temple in Madhya Pradesh, and Hindu religious organisations, the Bengal BJP chief said, “Aamake aamar moto thakte dao. Bangali jaa khachchhe, tai khabe. Bangali machh khabe na? Mangsho khabe na? Swami Vivekananda bole gechhen, tnar opor aabar ke achhe? Maa Kali ekhane pantha khabe. Let me live as I wish. Bengalis will eat whatever they eat traditionally. Won’t Bengalis eat fish? Won’t they eat meat? Swami Vivekananda has also called for non-vegetarian food. Who else is there above him?”

While speaking to reporters in Kolkata today, Samik reacted to Dhirendra Shastri’s call for Hindus to eat vegetarian food, avoiding non-vegetarian food items during the Durga Puja festival and at pandals.

“Eating ‘luchi’ on the day of Astami and mutton on Navami during the Durga Puja festival is a Bengali tradition. This time, Bengalis will also maintain the tradition. Any physician or monk has the right to call for vegetarian food, but no one from outside can decide what someone in Bengal should eat or should not eat,” Samik said.

Showing due respect to him (Shastri), the Bengal BJP chief said that there is no scope to implement someone else’s views on Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy.

He also said that no political prescriptions would be allowed to change someone’s dress habits in Bengal. “If someone likes ‘dhoti’, he can wear it and, at the same time, if anybody likes to wear ‘lungi’, he can do it. No problem.”

A large-scale controversy has erupted across West Bengal during the past couple of weeks over the forthcoming Durga Puja festival in the state, with Right-wing Hindu organisations and religious preachers like Dhirendra Krishna Shastri urging Hindu Bengalis to avoid eating non-vegetarian food during the festival and at pandals.

Speaking at an event in Kolkata on Sunday, the Bageshwar Dham chief said he does not like it when “dirty” non-vegetarian food is eaten during Durga Puja and at gatherings linked to the festivities.

“I want the Hindus of Kolkata to awaken and boycott such people,” he said. “…[These people] cannot be considered religious.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, his cabinet colleagues, BJP leaders and senior bureaucrats met Shastri at a programme in the city. Some of them were also seen offering pranam to the 26-year-old ‘Bageshwar Baba’.

Meat must not be sold near the goddess’ idol during the festival, he added.

The five-day-long festival will begin on October 6 and conclude on October 10.

Eating non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja is common among Bengali Hindus, and animal sacrifice is an important part of the festival for some in the community.

On August 26, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had also issued an advisory stating that non-vegetarian food should be kept away from Durga Puja pandals to maintain the sanctity of the religious festival in the state.

The Opposition Trinamool Congress and CPI-M said that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had welcomed Shastri to the state.

Suvendu and his cabinet ministers had met the religious leader on Friday, the Opposition claimed.

They claimed that the BJP “wants to snatch fish and meat from the plates of Bengalis”.

“For this purpose, raids are being conducted in all restaurants before the Puja,” a Trinamool leader said.

BJP leader Tathagata Roy on Monday said that he does not agree with Shastri and that he eats non-vegetarian food during Navaratri and that he “remains 100% Hindu”.