MYSURU: Eating non-vegetarian food inside Kalamandira led to tension in the city on Sunday. At an interaction programme on ‘Right to Food-Freedom of Person’ organised by Charvaka Social and Cultural Trust, non-vegetarian food, including beef, was served to the participants.
For breakfast, upma, pongal, beef and chicken kabab were distributed. While for lunch, beef biriyani, kesari bath and upma were arranged.
After learning about this, Mysuru Kannada Vedike activists staged a protest raising slogans against rational
thinkers and programme organisers. They said: “Kalamandira is a sacred place and it’s a cultural promotion centre in the city. Non-vegetarian food should not be consumed here.”
Activist Balakrishna said: “It seems Kalamandira has been converted into a non-vegetarian hotel. Serving mutton, chicken and beef here is totally unacceptable. The district administration should take action against officers for giving permission for the event.”
Prior to this, speaking after the inauguration of the interaction, rational thinker Prof K S Bhagwan said: “The BJP is creating a debate unnecessarily over ban on cow slaughter. There is nothing wrong in selling unproductive cows. Keeping unproductive cows will be a burden for farmers."
He said:“The vedic people had already declared that beef is good for health. Even cows were sacrificed while doing yagnas in ancient rituals.”
Former mayor Purushotham and Prof Maheshchandra Guru were present.