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Mumbai, India’s financial capital recently banned the slaughter and sale of meat for four days, starting this Thursday, following a demand from the strictly vegetarian Jain community. This sparked an outrage among the meat-eaters already upset by a permanent beef ban imposed this year. Ever since this news broke out, people have taken to social media websites to display their outrage.

Having moved to Mumbai just four months back from Delhi to study at Xavier Institute of Communications, this news has brought a large amount of disappointment for me and many others like me. While adjusting to the food habits of a new city was difficult enough, it has been made unbearable by this temporary meat ban taking away food joints like ‘Bademiyaan’ or ‘Delhi Darbaar’ that proved to be saviours in several homesick situations.

India is a land of diverse cultures and religions and I respect every religious community. However the question is, by what means can the government or the civic body dictate people’s eating habits? After all, it’s a particular individual’s prerogative to decide what they should or shouldn’t eat. There are approximately 39 religious communities in India and if things continue this way one can expect some sort of a ban every day of the year. Anarchy has become a part of the Indian democracy; anyone with ‘religious sentiments’ can impose his/her thoughts on the people of this country.

Being a Delhiite and Punjabi at heart I don’t go around imposing meat on anyone, so why should anyone be given the right to decide what I consume for breakfast, lunch or dinner? Important question here is are eating habits more important than issues like water crisis, traffic congestion, and rodent menace among others that Mumbaikars have to face on a daily basis?

 

Guest Post by Anubha Goyal

Image source: rediff.com