The Festival of Beef and Pork and the Right to Eat in India

Bangalore: The combustible politics surrounding beef-eating in India became the heated topic of discussion once again and a group of students at the Osmani University set the state for it which in turn led to a minor riot on the campus.

Tension erupted at Osmani University after a section of students held a beef eating festival to protest against the kind of diet being imposed on the university. Hundreds of dalit students participated in the organized beef festival on campus to assert they said their cultural identity. The group had earlier submitted a memorandum to the university vice chancellor asking for inclusion of beef and pork in their hostel’s food menu. A large group of students belonging to the BJP’s youth wing, ABVP protested against beef being served in public. Police, anticipating a law and order situation, resorted to teargas shell firing in order to disperse the clashing student mobs. ABVP called for an Osmania University bandh on Monday which passed off peacefully. There was a stray incident of a student stabbed at the university; however, the protesting student union says the issue is far from resolved.